Former NFL player helps stop carjacking in front of daycare center he operates with his wife: 'I was trying to pull him out and slam the door on his leg'

When would-be carjackers saw former NFL cornerback Robert Blanton bolting out of Kiddie Academy daycare in Edina, Minnesota, last Wednesday and running toward them, they had the right idea in trying to get away.

Image source: WCCO-TV video screenshot

Blanton, 32, runs the daycare center with his wife, Erin, and was inside the facility with his daughter when he saw a woman struggling with one of the carjackers outside, WCCO-TV reported.

Image source: WCCO-TV video screenshot

What went down?

Edina police told the station that two men confronted the woman around 4 p.m. outside Kiddie Academy, and one of them demanded her keys. She complied, WCCO said, after which she grabbed her purse and ran toward the locked entrance of the daycare center.

Problem is, the carjacker wanted her purse, too, and he ran after the woman, the station said.

Blanton stands six feet and one inch tall, played at 208 pounds, made 177 tackles during his career, and didn't retire too long ago — so he can still hoof it like all pro defensive backs as you can see from surveillance video of the incident.

“I just bolted out the door,” Blanton told WCCO.

When Blanton got outside, the suspect ran and jumped into a vehicle where the other carjacker was waiting, the station said: “I was trying to pull him out and slam the door on his leg."

Image source: WCCO-TV video screenshot

Blanton can be heard on outdoor surveillance video yelling at the carjackers to get out of the vehicle, WCCO said, adding that Blanton said they tried running him over until he had to let go, and the suspects drove away.

“Attacking a parent at pick up from preschool is one of the more vulnerable people we have in our community,” he told station afterward.

The suspects' vehicle had been taken during a carjacking earlier in the day in Richfield, WCCO reported, adding that it was found abandoned later in St. Louis Park. No weapons were involved, and no one was hurt in the incident, the station said.

He says he's not a hero

Blanton — who played for the Minnesota Vikings from 2012 to 2015 and then for the Buffalo Bills from 2016 to 2017 before retiring — told WCCO he's "definitely not a hero" for doing what he did.

But the mother is, he said.

“I think the mom is a hero for fighting back and standing up for herself and allowing time [for me] to come and help her," Blanton added to the station.

Anything else?

Police are still searching for the suspects, who got away in a Chevy Traverse with Minnesota license plates reading NLV852, according to WCCO.