PHOTO: Army West Point backup safety Larry Pickett Jr. (L) says what he learned as West Point reinforced what he has learned in life from his father, Larry Pickett Sr (R).

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By TOM SHANAHAN

Larry Pickett Jr. found himself making the rounds of national media network interviews. The Army West Point football player pulled a man from a car crashed into a utility pole that was about to erupt into flames.

He humbly shrugged off the attention, saying, “If it was any other Cadet, they would have done the same thing.”

If that sounds like he was quoting from a West Point manual, it should. The Cadet Prayer is to “choose the harder right over the easier wrong.”

But Pickett – a sophomore backup safety from Raleigh’s Enloe High — wasn’t alone pulling the man from the car. In video of the scene, Pickett Jr. and his father both pull the man from the car and across the road to safety.

To hear Pickett Jr. tell it in a Tuesday interview after practice, any son of Larry Pickett Sr. would have done the same thing.

“I learned my whole life from Dad,” Pickett Jr. said. “He has been the biggest influence on me. He has been there with me my whole life growing up every step of the way. For us to be able to help that gentleman out on Saturday night with him, that was big for me. My dad always been by my side, and I’m very grateful to him.”

The moment recorded on video was widespread on the Internet.

Pickett Jr. and his family returned to West Point from dinner on Saturday night. Army’s football game on the Friday night of the Labor Day weekend allowed for the added family time together. The traveling party that drove up to New York from Raleigh in the family minivan included Pickett’s parents, Larry Sr. and Shawnonne; two younger sisters, Olivia and Lauren; and Pickett’s girlfriend, Tytiana LeCount, who also is an Enloe alumnus.

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LARRY PICKETT

Watch the video here

My August 21 story in the N&O with comments from Larry Pickett helping rebuild Enloe High’s football program under alumnus coach Ryan Clark.

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About six miles from the academy, the Picketts came across a car on a two-lane road crashed into a utility poll and tree. Sparks were flying from wires on the ground. Pickett said his father was driving as they pulled over.

They weren’t the first ones upon the scene, but they were the first ones to act. They both raced to the car and Pickett Sr. opened the door. Larry and his father pull the man out of the car and carried him across the road.

“We had to react because of the power lines,” Pickett Jr. said. “The car was going to catch fire.”

They no sooner reached the side of the road when the car’s gas tank erupted into an explosion. This part of the video, recorded by 14-year-old Lauren Pickett, looked as if it was scripted by a Hollywood director for a pair of action heroes.

“It all happened so fast,” Pickett Jr. said. “It was only a matter of time before it got worse.”

Army West Point coach Jeff Monken met with the media on Tuesday to discuss the Black Knights’ upcoming game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Kansas State. The rescue story will no doubt gain more national attention on the ESPN broadcast.

Pickett Jr. also has a sort of homecoming game is Thursday night, September 25 at East Carolina. ESPN also is broadcasting the game. The Greenville campus is 83 miles from Raleigh.

The questions for Monken soon enough moved from X’s and O’s to Pickett Jr.’s heroics.

“We’re very proud of Larry,” Monken said. “Larry and his family came upon that accident before anyone else got there. Larry — as cadets do, as people who are service minded do –he didn’t stop and consider, ‘Is this going to be dangerous for me?’ He saw somebody in trouble. Where a lot of people stand by the wayside or turn phone or call 911 to not get involved.”

Monken (82-58) is in his 12^th year as Army’s head coach observing the dedication and discipline drilled into Cadets and his players.

“It speaks to his character and the speaks to the courage and the selflessness of cadets and what this place stands for. It also speaks to his parents and his upbringing. He wasn’t over there by himself. His dad was there with him. They carried that gentleman to the other side of the street to get him out of harm’s way.

“There is a humility to Larry Pickett when you talk to him, it’s no big deal. It’s matter of fact – just what he did. It was no big deal to him. I’m really proud of him. We’re all really proud of him. He’s source of pride in our entire academy, our program and the men and women that he represents and serves. It was awesome. It’s a great story and it should be national news.”

Although Army suffered an upset loss in overtime to Tarleton State, the weekend was memorable for Pickett on the field with his varsity debut. He was a scout team player a year ago who made special teams this season. He recorded his first career tackle in the game.

“That was awesome to finally being able to contribute,” Pickett Jr. said. “My role last year was on the scout team, which is a big job. But moving up to something bigger was great, too.”

Backup junior quarterback Cale Hellums has seen plenty of Pickett Jr. facing him in practice.

“Larry is an awesome guy,” Hellums sad. “We came in Sunday for practice and heard about it as it blew up. For him to do that is a big deal, but you don’t expect anything less from him. He’s a great teammate and great person off the field. It’s something that shouldn’t go unnoticed and it was cool to see the national attention he got. It’s a big deal. He saved a person’s life.

“You see him going down the field on special teams in his first game and you can expect a lot more from him.”

Among the congratulations Pickett Jr. received was from the Secretary of the Army, Daniel Driscoll.

“My Dad told me this will make national news,” Pickett Jr. said. “I thought it was a small thing, but he was right. I’m always learning something from him.”

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Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter with two books on college football integration, “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans,” and “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s,” and a children’s book, “DUFFY’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.” Shanahan’s 2022 story on the 1962 Rose Bowl, Alabama and segregation was awarded first place for Enterprise from the Football Writers Association of America.

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Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do

THE RIGHT THING TO DO

The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s

Foreword by Ruffin McNeill

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Click here to purchase Raye of Light.

RAYE OF LIGHT

Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans

Foreword by Tony Dungy

DUFFY CHILDREN’S BOOK purchase links: Order from Barnes and Noble here and Amazon here.