Growing up in rural Georgia, Florida State offensive lineman Jayden Todd has spent much of his life on the water.

Swimming, fishing and boating all come second nature.

Never in those countless trips away from dry land, however, had he ever experienced anything like what took place last Saturday. And if it never happened again, that would be perfectly fine by him.

While on a weekend fishing trip on the Homosassa River in Citrus County, Fla., with Florida State teammates Blake Nichelson, AJ Cottrill and Caleb LaVallee, they came across a small group of boaters in distress.

One man was unconscious in the water, only being kept afloat by a life jacket. Another man was trying to drag him back to the boat. And two women were waving frantically for help.

“They were saying to call 9-1-1, we think he’s having a heart attack,” Todd recalled.

Before his boat had even stopped moving, Todd leaped into the river and swam over to the other watercraft.

“They weren’t able to pull the guy up from the water because he was a bigger guy,” Todd said.

Having a 6-foot-6, 314-pound offensive lineman on the scene improved the situation dramatically.

“Moving someone who is unconscious in the water is very hard,” Jake Fischer, a corporal with the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office Special Enforcement Unit, told Warchant. “If it was anybody else, it would have been very difficult to get him back in the boat. And they said Jayden just did it with ease. Him being able to do that was a huge part of saving that guy.”

The man in the water, identified in a Citrus County Sheriff’s report as Michael Hoffmann, was not in the clear just yet, however.

Getting him back onto the boat was imperative. But Hoffmann still wasn’t breathing.

“Once we got him in the boat, we flipped him over, and his face was purple,” Todd said. “It didn’t look very good.”

Within moments, though, reinforcements would arrive on the scene.

The other Florida State football players helped get the attention of Citrus County Sheriff’s Deputy Robbie Crosnoe, who just happened to be patrolling that portion of the river. And not long after that, another boater arrived to help; both would prove essential to saving Hoffmann’s life.

Crosnoe had an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) on his boat, and the other Good Samaritan, identified in the Sheriff’s report as Seth Greco, was a former firefighter EMT.

“The sheriff went straight to business,” Todd said. “He was super locked in the whole time. He saved that man pretty much. Once he shocked him a couple of times with the defibrillator, I saw his leg move. That was like a big sign for me, and I felt pretty good about that.”

Hoffmann still had not regained consciousness, however, so Crosnoe knew he needed to get him back to dock, where more emergency personnel could continue life-saving measures.

After Todd and Greco carried Hoffmann from his small boat to the Sheriff’s patrol unit, Greco continued administering CPR while Crosnoe raced back to Riverhaven Marina. Once there, they were met by Citrus County Fire Rescue workers, who took Hoffmann to Tampa General Hospital Crystal River.

“After approximately 10 minutes of CPR, the subject gained consciousness, but was out of it and appeared to be having a heart-related medical emergency,” Crosnoe wrote in his report.

According to Fischer, Citrus County Sheriff’s officers deal with emergency situations on the water on a daily basis. Those cases sometimes have happy endings, but certainly not always.

This one, Fischer said, had one serendipitous turn after another.

“It was under 20 minutes from the time Jayden jumped in the water to getting the gentleman back to safety,” Fischer said, explaining that Greco’s knowledge of CPR and Crosnoe’s ability to navigate the river quickly and safely were equally essential. “It’s a pretty rocky river. Robbie knowing the area was huge too. If you mess up, if you make the wrong turn, you could be in real trouble. But he knew exactly how to get through there quickly. …

“If a person falls out in a Wal-Mart, there’s a good chance the EMS will get there pretty quickly. If you’re out on the water, it’s 50-50 if it’s going to be a good outcome or not.”

Recounting the event to Warchant on Thursday, Todd expressed amazement at how many things had to come together perfectly to save the man’s life. He credited his mother with making sure he was a strong swimmer from a young age. He thanked God that his fishing group, Crosnoe and Greco all happened to be in the same area at the same time. And he praised Hoffmann’s party for all boating safely with flotation devices.

“The life jacket was huge for him,” the Florida State lineman said. “If he wouldn’t have had the life jacket on, I’m not sure how it would have went for him. I had never experienced anything like that. It was just God — the right place and right timing, and I was just able to take action and help out.”

“Jayden is an awesome kid,” said Fischer. “I asked him if he’d be interested in being a cop one day. He’s truly a hero. I told him, ‘You saved a life today.’”

Fischer was so impressed by Todd’s heroic actions that shortly after he got into the office on Monday, he called Florida State University Police and the football offices to make sure they were aware of the situation.

“For us, it’s part of the job,” Fischer said. “But it’s not a common thing for citizens to get involved like that. For a citizen to step up like that, it’s definitely a best-case scenario. That former firefighter (Greco) and Jayden are the reason that guy lived. Robbie did his job too, but that’s expected. Those guys didn’t have to come help out. They could have just kept doing what they were doing.

“Jayden did an outstanding job. He should be recognized.”

Todd, a redshirt sophomore who played on special teams in all 12 games last season and earned Academic All-ACC honors, hadn’t even mentioned it to anyone on the Florida State staff when the call came in from Fischer.

“It was just something that happened and it’s not something to boast about,” Todd explained. “It was just something that needed to happen, and I was able to just be there at the right place and right time.”

Todd admitted he was still a little shaken up by the entire experience after it happened. But he said it helped being with his close friends and teammates.

One day later, Todd and his fellow Seminoles got to make their fishing trip as planned. And he was proud to report they landed quite the haul.

“We wore them out, too,” Todd said with a smile. “I think it was the good karma.”

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