NC Army football player remains a humble hero in wake of viral fiery rescue

Larry Pickett Jr.’s intrepid story of pulling a man from a car about to burst into flames quickly went national, but the Army West Point football player from Enloe High remained true to the U.S. Military Academy’s creed of service.

He nonchalantly deflected all praise and attention.

“If it was any other Cadet, they would have done the same thing,” the sophomore backup safety said in one interview after another.

The media, quite naturally, highlighted Pickett’s deportment in print and video stories. In addition to various sports networks, stories aired on CBS, NBC and ABC nightly news programs. Americans love a story about military bravery. In this case, Pickett lived up to the Cadet Prayer: “Choose the harder right over the easier wrong.”

Pickett’s comments retelling the story in a Zoom call, however, weren’t complete without passing on praise to another person. In his mind he did what any son or daughter of Larry Pickett Sr. would have done.

“I learned my whole life from my 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.”

‘A good leader’

Pickett Jr., a 6-foot-1, 195-pound defensive back, enjoys somewhat of a homecoming this week when Army (1-2) plays at East Carolina (2-2). The American Conference game at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Dowdy-Ficklin Stadium will be broadcast on ESPN.

“Larry is a great story,” Army head coach Jeff Monken said Monday. “Larry is a good football player — a really smart player and a good leader. He came to us highly recommended by his coach, and we followed up and did our evaluations that we usually do. We found a guy who is a good fit for our program.

“He’s playing special teams and hasn’t played a bunch of defensive snaps yet, but I anticipate over the course of his career, if not this season, he will find his way onto the field on defense. That’s usually the way it works. When guys continue to persevere and push through, they find their way onto the field.”

Pickett, whose uncle Ike Taylor played 12 NFL seasons and won two Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers, was a two-time all-state pick at Enloe for coach Ryan Clark.

“Army West Point was his dream school,” Clark said. “He wanted to be in the Army since he was a kid.”

West Point admits only about 1,000 freshmen — plebes in West Point vernacular — each year, so Pickett’s stature as a cadet attracted the national headlines.

But “Pickett’s Charge” was a family affair that included his father; his mother, Shawnonne; two younger sisters, Olivia and Lauren; and his girlfriend, Tytiana LeCount, who also is an Enloe alumnus. They traveled 463 miles in the family minivan from Raleigh to the scenic West Point campus on the Hudson River 60 miles north of New York City.

‘It all happened so fast’

The Labor Day weekend trip began with Army’s season opener on Friday, Aug. 29 against Tarleton State at Michie Stadium. Pickett was limited to the scout team in 2024, but he made his first career tackle on kickoff coverage in the 2025 opener.

Saturday was a day off for the cadets, so Larry Jr. joined his family and girlfriend for a sightseeing day trip to New York City, followed by dinner.

Larry Sr. was at the wheel of the KIA Sedona as they returned to campus. About six miles from West Point on a four-lane highway, they came across a small white car that had crashed into a utility pole and trees. The utility pole was draped across the hood of the car, and a tree across the back.

Larry Sr. braked and pulled over. Larry Jr. rushed to the car with his father as sparks jumped from the downed powerlines.

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

Others were first on the scene, but they stood back cautioning Pickett and his father about the sparking wires under the car. The driver, a man alone in the vehicle, was unresponsive while seated behind the deployed airbag, unable to get out of the car on his own.

The Picketts opened the door unlocked by the deployed airbag. They unbuckled the seat belt as they pulled him out. Larry Jr. had him by the shoulders and Larry Sr. by the legs. Larry Sr. stumbled as they hurried to carry the man across the street, but they made it to a safe distance.

Lauren was quick to record the scene on her phone. The man’s limp arm was evident in the video as its scrapes across the road. Lauren panned the camera’s lens back to the car.

Flames grew from sparks under the car until the frame was engulfed. A Hollywood director promoting an action hero’s courage couldn’t have timed the drama any better.

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

Becoming a national story

Larry Jr. thought the moment concluded once the Highland Falls fire, police and EMS arrived. The fire was put out and the driver treated. He was taken to the hospital with what was reported as minor injuries. There were no charges filed against the driver.

“My dad said this will be a national story,” Larry Jr. said. “I didn’t think so, but he was right. I’m always learning something from him.”

The following Saturday, Sept. 6, Army won at Kansas State in a game broadcast by ESPN. The cameras focused on Larry Jr. as he lined up on special teams for the kickoff.

On Sept. 13, the Fox Sports Big Noon Kickoff pregame show aired a six-minute feature on the rescue. The video included sit-down interview comments from Gen. R.J. Garicia, Commandant of the Corps, and Monken.

On Sept. 17, Pickett Jr. was named a candidate for the 2025 Capital One Orange Bowl Courage Award. The winner is honored at the Orange Bowl game, which this year is played on Jan. 1 as a College Football Playoff quarterfinal.

The Pentagon has also contacted West Point about including Pickett among nominees for the Soldier of the Year Award.

‘All of my kids are amazing’

For Army’s third game on Sept. 20 against North Texas, the announcers for CBS Sports cable channel broadcast told the story as cameras focused on Larry Sr. in the Michie Stadium stands.

Larry Sr., with his media background, had good reason to think the national media would pick up on the rescue. He formerly was a TV host of a cable TV music/entertainment shows, “The Larry Picket Show” and “LP17.” He now owns and runs a multimedia company as a producer and creator, LarryPickett.com.

Shawnonne operates a business as the co-owner of Little People Pre-School in Raleigh.

Olivia is a Millbrook High sophomore in the school’s band, and was the 7th- and 8th-grade president at West Millbrook Middle School. Lauren is a freshman at Millbrook in the school’s theater program and loves art. Larry Jr., Olivia and Lauren have been ambassadors at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh.

In 2019, then-14-year-old Larry Jr. joined his parents as a part of a church group that traveled to Mexico to build homes.

Larry Sr. expressed his pride when asked about his son’s praise of him as a role model, but he deflected attention with the aplomb his son apparently learned from him.

“All of my kids are amazing,” Larry Sr. said. “That’s what I tell anybody.”

Feeling ‘grateful’

For the East Carolina game, Larry Sr. will again be at the wheel for Thursday’s 63-mile trip to Greenville. In all, about 40 family friends and members of Word of God Fellowship Church will be at the game. Larry Sr. and Shawnonne are elders at the church on Rock Quarry Road.

There will, of course, be more road trips to upcoming Army games, which likely will include meeting the rescued driver whom Larry Sr. identified as David. Larry Sr. has spoken and texted with David.

“He was very grateful we stopped, especially knowing it was a few more minutes until the fire truck and the EMS guys got there,” Larry Sr. said. “We all plan to meet someday.”

Larry Sr. said ABC’s Good Morning America, the Jennifer Hudson Show and Tamron Hall Show have all reached out to produce a show about the reunion. He told them they are agreeable, but they must work around Larry Jr.’s demanding daily academic and training commitments at West Point, in addition to football.

Larry Jr. wouldn’t want any other way than to have his father included.

“For us to be able to help out that gentleman with him, that was big for me,” Larry Jr said. “My dad has always been by my side, and I’m very grateful to him.”

This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.