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Today in Patriots History
Hero to Liar and Back
Hero to Liar and Back
Happy 35th birthday to Darius Fleming
Born July 19, 1989 in Chicago
Patriot OLB, 2014-2015; uniform #58, #44, #53, #48
Signed as a free agent on May 16, 2014
- 11 games played for Patriots, plus five playoff games (Pats went 4-1)
- 65 defensive snaps, 182 special team snaps in those 11 games; ten tackles, one fumble recovery
- Super Bowl 49 champion (28-24 vs Seattle)
The January 20, 2016 headlines themselves tell most of the story for today's title from above.
The tl;dr version: Ben Volin received an anonymous DM. Rather than vet the source or run it past the local police for verification, Volin chose to rush and be the first to publish the 'scoop'. Due to the fantastic nature of the story, it quickly spread nationwide and even internationally.
Problem was that Volin's source had fed him a big fat lie, and he bought it, swallowing it whole - hook, line and sinker.
Patriots LB Darius Fleming rescues woman after car accident
On his way home from practice, Patriots linebacker Darius Fleming rescued a woman whose car had begun smoking after an accident
www.usatoday.com
New England Patriots linebacker Darius Fleming didn't hesitate when he saw a woman trapped in a smoking car: He kicked out the window, enabling her to escape.
But Fleming cut his right leg in the process, and he soon began to worry about how coach Bill Belichick would react.
"The first concern was, like, 'Man, Bill's going to be pissed about my leg,'" Fleming said in the Patriots locker room on Wednesday after word of his rescue filtered out. "I explained the story to him and he said, 'That was pretty cool. I'm glad you were able to help her.'"
Fleming, 26, said he was on his way home from practice on Thursday when a truck up ahead slowed down to turn, causing a three-car collision behind it. The former Notre Dame and San Francisco 49er linebacker was behind the third car and pulled over to see if he could help.
What he saw was a woman unable to open her doors or windows as her car began to fill with smoke.
"I saw her panic on her face," Fleming told reporters.
The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Chicagoan needed a few kicks to break the passenger side window, cutting his right leg on the glass as he pulled it back out of the car. The woman climbed out safely.
"My adrenaline was going up and I wasn't thinking much about it. I was just thinking about whether she was safe," Fleming said. "Once I got her out of the car, she said 'Thank you,' I said 'You're welcome,' and I saw my leg and I got out of there."
Fleming, a fifth-round draft pick in 2012, needed 22 stitches to close the gash. He played with the injury Saturday in New England's 27-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, filling in when starters Jamie Collins and Jerod Mayo were injured.
"I was more worried about just getting out there and playing. I'm glad it didn't affect my play much," Fleming said. "The worst thing that could happen is that I would tear them (stitches) open and get re-stitched. It wasn't like it was a life-threatening injury or anything like that."
Patriots safety Devin McCourty said on Wednesday that Fleming tried to keep it quiet. "But once the guys on the team got ahold of it, we forced him to give a speech and everything," McCourty said, calling it "the hero's speech."
Roadside heroism is becoming a bit of a playoff tradition for the Patriots.
Last year, defensive lineman Vince Wilfork pulled a woman from a car that had flipped on its side after New England won the AFC championship game.
"We've got great guys around here, no matter the time — playoffs, regular season — we're always out in the community trying to save people," McCourty said with a laugh.
Like Wilfork before him, Fleming said he didn't think he did anything special.
"It represents his character," linebacker Rob Ninkovich said. "He's a great person. ... It's definitely somebody that you want in a situation like that, to kick in windows and taking stitches."
Once Fleming's actions became public, the gullible Volin was sent a DM for whatever reason - a prank, perhaps something more nefarious - and Volin ignored basic journalistic integrity and ran with the fictional update. It's unfathomable that a writer at his level would not perform even the tiniest bit of research into the truthfulness of the allegation - or that his editor would allow it to be published. Obviously that information would become a huge news story, begging the need for its veracity.
"Trollin" Ben Volin And TMZ Insinuate that Darius Fleming Made Up the Story About Him Saving A Woman From A Burning Car….Walpole Police Slap Em In the Face With Police Report
Not Found | Barstool Sports
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Rate Trollin Volin's Apology To Darius Fleming For Insinuating That He Made Up the Story About the Car Crash
Not Found | Barstool Sports
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www.barstoolsports.com
More from Darius Fleming's actual football and post-NFL career here:
Darius Fleming
fightingirish.com
March 4, 2016:
Patriots release LB Darius Fleming
The Patriots announced that they have released LB Darius Fleming.
www.patriots.com
Fleming, 26, was originally signed by New England as a free agent on May 16, 2014, and rotated between the practice squad and the 53-man roster over the last two seasons. The 6-foot-2, 250-pounder, was drafted by San Francisco in the fifth round (165th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. He spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons on injured reserve with a knee injury and was released by the 49ers on May 12, 2014.
Fleming played in five games and three postseason games for the Patriots in 2014. He was released by the Patriots on Sept. 5, 2015, signed to the practice squad on Sept. 7, 2015, before being signed to the 53-man roster on Nov. 28. Fleming played in six regular-season games and both postseason games last season, finishing with two total tackles and three special teams tackles in the regular season and one tackle on defense and one special teams tackle in the playoffs.
April 23, 2019:
Fleming brings message of hard work to students
As he stood in front of students at Vanderpoel Humanities Academy, former NFL star Darius Fleming had them repeat a mantra.
www.beverlyreview.net
Fleming, a cousin of Vanderpoel student Donnevia Nelson, admitted he quit football in elementary school, then tried it again at St. Rita, where he became one of the top players in the nation in the high school class of 2008.
He earned a scholarship to the University of Notre Dame, and he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in 2012.
Fleming won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots in February 2015, recovering a dropped punt in the AFC championship game.
In January 2016, he rescued a woman trapped in a smoke-filled car after a three-vehicle collision. He kicked open the window, cutting his right leg so severely that he needed 22 stitches.
Fleming, who now works for LinkedIn, said that playing at St. Rita required him to sacrifice his social life in order to be prepared to play his best. The night before a game, his father would massage his son’s back to assist in the preparations, as both knew college coaches would be watching the athlete’s performance.
He encouraged students to take a similar approach in everything they do. The work begins, he said, as early as kindergarten.
“If we have a dream of accomplishing something, and we don’t do the necessary steps to make it happen, why should we get the results that we want to see?” Fleming asked the students.
He expressed his confidence that Vanderpoel students wouldn’t be just dreamers—but doers.
“We’re going to make things happen,” Fleming said. “You all are a bunch of go-getters in here—some bright, intelligent individuals. You all are beautiful. You can do whatever you want in this world. … But, we can’t wait.”
Fleming, Darius - NFL Players - Knute Rockne Memorial Society
Meet Darius Fleming, the 2021 Champion award at Knute Rockne Memorial Society. Star from Chicago, now contributes to sports and academics. Visit us, check more award winners.
rocknesociety.org
Darius Fleming was a star at Chicago's St. Rita High School when he relied on a community organization, the Beyond Sports Foundation, to help prepare him for the challenge of becoming a Notre Dame student-athlete.
He became a four-year starter at linebacker, finishing with 157 tackles, including 32 for loss, 14 1/2 sacks, two interceptions, and nine pass deflections. In the NFL, he was part of a special-teams unit for the 2014 New England Patriots in their march to winning the Super Bowl. After football, Darius returned to Chicago and volunteered for the Beyond Sports Foundation.
"I saw how much it benefited me and supported me along the way and thought it would be right to show support for the same great organization," Darius says. "I feel there are a lot of kids who, like me, are talented but do not have the resources when it comes to academics."
"Darius has always been a person who gave his best in everything that he did," said Todd Kuska, St. Rita athletic director and head football coach. "He was a competitor on the field and in the classroom. He was always there for others, whether it was helping another player with a scheme or drill or talking with his teammates about any problems that they had."
And football wasn't the only sport in which he excelled. Darius won the Tony Lawless Award as the best bowler in the Chicago Catholic League.
Today, Darius works as Head of Sports Partnerships for Cameo.com, the Chicago-based video sharing website.
St. Rita's Darius Fleming Once Dreamed of Bowling, Now in the Super Bowl for the Patriots
The South Sider is one of three Southland natives playing for the New England Patriots.
patch.com
First-and-10: Two ACL rehabs later, Darius Fleming in Super Bowl
<p>South Sider making an impact on special teams with the Patriots — his recovery of a muffed punt helped kick-start New England’s rout of the Colts in the AFC title game</p>
chicago.suntimes.com
Patriots’ Darius Fleming hailed as a hero after crash - The Boston Globe
The linebacker cut his leg kicking out a car window to help a woman who had gotten into an accident near Gillette Stadium.
www.bostonglobe.com
Patriots LB Darius Fleming rescues woman after car accident
On his way home from practice, Patriots linebacker Darius Fleming rescued a woman whose car had begun smoking after an accident
www.usatoday.com
Deadspin | Is This The Crash That Darius Fleming Is Talking About? (Updated)
Deadspin | Is This The Crash That Darius Fleming Is Talking About? (Updated)
deadspin.com
Darius Fleming car rescue story confirmed by Walpole police
New England Patriots linebacker Darius Fleming injured his leg when he kicked through a window after witnessing a car accident a week ago.
www.masslive.com
Darius Fleming was recruited out of high school to play at Notre Dame by head coach Charlie Weis
