Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki came up big in Week 1. In a game where Ja’Marr Chase was contained and Tee Higgins was limited, Gesicki became Joe Burrow’s top target as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers focused their attention outside. Gesicki came up big in clutch moments all game.
Gesicki helped save the Bengals on this day, but there was a time when he needed real-life saving from one of his teammates.
In a recent appearance on the Fitz & Whit podcast with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Andrew Whitworth,
Bengals center Ted Karras told the story of how he very well may have saved Gesicki’s life.
The incident happened back in 2020 when Fitzpatrick, Gesicki, and Karras were all teammates for the Miami Dolphins. During a team meal, the three were eating steaks together when Gesicki began to choke on his steak, leading Karras to leap into action and perform the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the meat.
“Mike gets his steak well done, so here’s a lesson in that. And all of a sudden, Mike is sick. He looks at me, fear and tears in his eyes, and I immediately recognize it as choking,” Karras told the hosts. “I kind of went into action. I’ve never had a harrowing moment like that in my life. Bent him over the sink and performed the Heimlich. We were about 30 seconds away from an actual, like, this is gonna be a serious thing here.”
Fitzpatrick originally told the story to Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson back in 2024.
This doesn’t seem like it was a small choke or food just going down rough; it sounds like Karras was genuinely concerned for his teammate’s safety. Karras also explained that this has been sort of a theme for Gesicki.
“But then it comes out later in the night. That’s the third time he’s been Heimliched. He’s a three-time Heimlich. You’re getting medium rare if you’re eating steak around me from now on,” Karras joked.
Three times in one lifetime is a lot, so maybe Gesicki needs to evaluate his chewing tactics.
In the end, Karras saved the day, and Gesicki was able to do the same for the Bengals in Week 1.
