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NFL star comes to SC woman's rescue, changes her tire

When Darius Leonard saw one of his former teachers in trouble, he knew what to do.
Credit: Martha Isbell

LAKE VIEW, S.C. — An NFL player came to the rescue when he saw his former teacher's car broken down on the side of the road on Easter morning. 

Martha Isbell recounted the actions of her good Samaritan, Darius Leonard, who stopped and helped her near Lake View, South Carolina. Leonard  linebacker with the Indianapolis Colts, and is from that area.  

She said she was all dressed up and was headed to church when her tire had a blow out. A few minutes later, she saw his a car pull over.

"I was glad to see him," she told the Indianapolis Star. "Because I knew I was safe with him there." 

She posted a video of him getting on his hands and knees and working on her vehicle, swapping out the damaged tire. 

"Colt's Darius Leonard continues to be an outstanding player on and off the field. So thankful to God that he stopped and helped me," she wrote. "Much love!"

IndyStar reports that when this story first got out, people believed he'd stopped to help a stranger, but it turns out he knew her very well. Isbell said she helped give Leonard guidance back when he was in high school. 

"Darius was finding himself at that time, so I was tough on him," Isbell told Indy Star. She's was girls junior varsity basketball coach and varsity assistant at Lake View when he was there. "He was the student that was kind of the class clown. He played a little bit."

Isbell said Leonard had come home for the weekend to do an Easter egg hunt for kids.

"Darius does a lot for us. We're proud of him," said Isbell. "You never know what your students are going to be as an educator. You just know you’ve got to give them all that you've got."

Leonard later went on to South Carolina State University in Orangeburg to play college football. Now that he's entered the NFL, he's become a budding superstar, leading the league in tackles last season, and was named the AP Rookie Defensive Player of the Year.

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