A Colerain, Ohio, police officer recently earned the nickname “Tom Brady” from local kids after stopping to play football with them.
The anonymous officer took the time to play with the children after responding to a call about a hit-skip vehicle crash in Northbrook. After helping clear the scene, he approached a group of 12 children and asked if he could play some ball with them.
The surveillance video, which went viral soon after, showed the officer playing as quarterback with the kids.
12-year-old Alyssa Jackson McCoy was one of the players.
“I thought he was going to ask us some questions, like, ‘Did you know what happened or anything?’ But no, he just came along and played. I was like, ‘Wow, he’s actually pretty good!’”
Colerain Public Information Officer Jim Love said the kids even gave the officer a nickname.
“They referred to him as Tom Brady. He became the quarterback for them and played with them for a while,” Love said.
Love added that officers sometimes don’t have time to interact with the community due to getting calls, but this time was different.
“Many times, they go from one scene to another, and they get called out, and they don’t have the opportunity,” Love said. “These guys, they have children, and they have families, and they’re smart guys and smart girls. They understand.”
McCoy said the officer left a positive impact.
“He was pretty good, and he was really friendly, and I was like, ‘Hmm, I guess you should come around more.’ Like, I get it was a car crash, but he was really nice, he comforted us a lot.”