Everyone who has ever flown knows how much nonsense and aggression that airport workers and flight attendants often must deal with.
Also, however, in many instances, the actual airport workers are the instigators and have even abused their power which has led to some frustrating and embarrassing situations for some good people.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis is accusing United Airlines of a “disgusting display of injustice” after he was handcuffed and removed from a flight in front of his family over the weekend.
Why Was Denver Broncos Legend Terrell Davis Handcuffed?
What could have led to the Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the best character guys in NFL history being arrested in front of his family?
In an interview with “CBS Mornings,” Davis broke the situation down.
“We’d much rather not be here, talking about this under these circumstances,” Davis opened up by saying to host Robin Roberts. “But it’s necessary, right? We have to come here, our kids are on vacation, and we were enjoying that, and they are wondering why they’re mom and dad are not here with them now.”
“But you want to be the voice for the voiceless,” Roberts insisted.
During the flight, his 13-year-old son asked for a cup of ice, but the flight attendant, Davis said, didn’t hear his son’s request. This prompted Davis, who was sitting in an aisle seat, to put his hand up to get the flight attendant’s attention.
Then, when the flight attendant didn’t see him, Davis said he “lightly tapped” the flight attendant on the shoulder. That’s when Davis said the flight attendant swung around and said, “Don’t hit me.”
Prior to that interaction, Davis says it was the flight attendant who was being aggressive and slamming the kids’ drinks down when he served them. Davis says he slammed his drink down as well. Davis says, his kids said, “Thank You,” but the flight attendant didn’t return the courtesy.
Flight Attendant Accuses Terrell Davis Of Assault
Davis said one of the passengers commented on the interaction, defending Davis, and insisting that he didn’t hit the flight attendant.
According to Davis, “(the onlooking passenger) turned around and said, ‘You didn’t hit him.’ He said, ‘I saw it. You didn’t hit him.’”
Davis was admittedly surprised by the airline staff member’s reaction but says he didn’t sweat it or think of it much during his flight from Denver to Orange County, California. After all, his family was enroute to Disneyland and the mood was perfect.
Once the plane landed, Davis said everyone was instructed to remain in their seats. According to Davis, the two-time Super Bowl winner, he and his family calmly remained in their seats because Davis said he assumed there was a medical emergency. So he buried his face in his magazine and didn’t look up until he noticed a commotion coming toward him and saw FBI agents flooding the aisles.
“I see ‘FBI’ on the jacket. I see the green, I think it was the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, and they were walking back toward the plane, and as they get closer to my seat, they come straight to me, and the agent walks up to me, and he leans over and whispers, ‘Don’t fight it,’ and he put the cuffs on me.”
Naturally, Davis has no idea why he was being cuffed, as this was his first time dealing with this kind of interaction from cops. Usually he is asked for autographs or chased down and told how his performance as a Denver Broncos provided so many great memories for football fans of his era.
It can only be expected that Davis was shocked and spiraling into a surreal situation that probably had his family emotionally traumatized as well.
“That moment, I felt all of my dignity, I felt powerless, I felt embarrassed,” he said.
Davis’ interaction with the flight attendant couldn’t have been that significant because his wife Tamiko Davis, said she was not even aware of the incident concerning ice for his son.
She said she asked what was happening and kept asking her husband if it was a joke.
“This is some cruel practical prank he’s pulling on me,” she said. “You just have all of these emotions going through.”
Black men often have to deal with traumatizing situations and often in front of their families and concerning police and everyday working people who have a tendency to be more aggressive with Black men than any other race or gender of people. The statistics on Black unarmed males murdered by police in the last 50 years would support this claim.
This sounds like one of those situations, where a misunderstanding turned into a nightmare for Davis, his wife and his boys, aged 11 and 13 years old, as well as his 9-year-old daughter, who would now have to wait to get to Disneyland
“I felt helpless. I remember watching them place handcuffs on Terrell, and seeing my two sons there, Davis’ wife recalls. “As a mom, as a Black mom raising two Black sons, you work really hard to not have your children have those types of experiences,” Tamiko Davis said. “That moment — I can’t protect my children from that.”
Who Is NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Davis?
“TD” is considered one of the greatest pigskin-toters in NFL history. Despite playing just seven seasons, he is a member of the NFL Hall of Fame as a dynamic, tough and imposing back for John Elway’s Denver Broncos squad, who lacked the running game to close out on Super Bowl seasons in the past, losing several heartbreaking playoff games and Super Bowls, before Davis’ arrival as a 6th-round steal in the 1995 NFL draft out of the University of Georgia.
He is the Broncos all-time leading rusher and still holds various franchise records, including most postseason single-season touchdowns (eight), which he achieved in 1997. He is also credited with starting the “Mile High Salute”, a celebratory tradition among Denver Broncos players after scoring a touchdown. Davis was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.
Flight Attendant Was Lying
The couple’s attorney, Parker Stinar, said that shortly after interviewing Davis and other passengers, investigators determined that the flight attendant’s statement was either false or extremely misleading.
“The problem is the scars that took place and the trauma that took place are going to impact this family forever,” Stinar said on “CBS Mornings.” “Equally as important, we have heard from dozens of other United passengers that have experienced similar conduct, events and sadly, I don’t know why it happened for Mr. Davis, most of those people aren’t handcuffed.”
Davis also said that the agents did apologize to him after the incident, but his young kids got a first-hand view at how quickly America becomes a police nation and also how quickly a situation can go left.
“The biggest problem for me was the intent of the flight attendant,” he said. “When you went up there and made that call, your intent was to destroy me. I didn’t do anything to him.”
United Airlines released a statement regarding the incident, but it’s only fair that a lawsuit should follow and that flight attendant gets fired.
“This is clearly not the kind of travel experience we strive to provide. We have reached out to Mr. Davis’s team to apologize and continue to discuss the issue with them. We have removed the flight attendant from duty while we closely look into this matter and we are reviewing our policies around incidents like this.”
Stinar said legal action could be taken because “They need to be held accountable.” You think?