Snap Stories

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Blaine Gabbert was among the bystanders to help rescue a man and his family from a helicopter that had to make an emergency landing in the water near Davis Islands in Tampa on Thursday, according to Matt Cohen of the Tampa Bay Times.

Gabbert was on a personal watercraft at the time of the incident, per Cohen.

Hunter Hupp and his parents were taking a helicopter tour over Tampa and the city's beaches as a Christmas gift before he heard a "popping sound" from above his head. The helicopter's engine had failed and it wasn't going to make it back to the airport.

The helicopter made an emergency landing in the water around 200 yards from Davis Islands. As the aircraft began to sink, Hupp found himself entangled in seatbelts and other cords that made it difficult for him to escape.

Hupp's parents and the pilot made it out safely, but Hupp said he struggled under the water for between 45 seconds and a minute before he finally freed himself. Hupp, his parents and the pilot escaped with no injuries.

Greg Auman of Fox Sports reports Gabbert "was one of the first to respond on his jet ski" when the helicopter went down. The veteran signal-caller lives on Davis Islands, according to Auman.

As Hupp, his parents and the pilot treaded water, Gabbert and someone on another jet ski came along to help. Hupp said his father was helped up onto one jet ski and he and his mother onto the other.

Hupp, who had no idea an NFL quarterback was one of the rescuers, detailed the matter, via Auman:

"They slowly brought us back to the shore, a sandy beach near the yacht club, and hung out for a while, were really nice. We exchanged pleasantries upon reaching flat ground. They were really an asset to helping us out, because we were the only ones out there for a while. It was a handshake and a huge and 'Thank you so much.' They went out for a nice afternoon ride and just happened to come upon a stranded helicopter family."

The Tampa Police Department is now "coordinating with local and federal agencies regarding the investigation and eventual recovery of the helicopter."

Gabbert, who was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars 10th overall in 2011, has been with the Buccaneers since 2019 and serves as a backup to seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.

Dak Prescott doesn't care about style points after the Dallas Cowboys got a 27-13 win over the Tennessee Titans on Thursday night.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Prescott said "a win is a win" to justify the team's lackluster performance against a depleted Titans team.

"A win's a win, and we're going to take it and we're going to get better from the mistakes and make sure that we're improving," the Cowboys quarterback said. "But a road win, short week, you've got to take them all. And style points and all that, that's for y'all who think games are won on paper."

Knowing their result this week had no impact on their ability to win the AFC South, the Titans essentially punted the game to rest their key players for a Week 18 showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Derrick Henry and Kristian Fulton were ruled out shortly before kickoff, bringing the list of Tennessee starters not playing up to 10.

The Cowboys were without Tony Pollard because of a thigh injury, but otherwise, they were playing at relatively full strength.

Playing with Joshua Dobbs as their starting quarterback, the Titans were within four points at 17-13 after three quarters. The Cowboys did pull away with 10 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't pretty.

This marks the third time in the past four games that Dallas has looked underwhelming. Ezekiel Elliott's touchdown run in the final minute gave the Cowboys a 27-23 win over the Houston Texans on Dec. 11. They blew a 17-point third-quarter lead in a 40-34 overtime loss to the Jaguars on Dec. 18.

Even the Cowboys' Christmas Eve win over the Philadelphia Eagles required a late defensive stop against Gardner Minshew II filling in for the injured Jalen Hurts.

One of the big issues for Dallas during this recent stretch of games has been Prescott. The two-time Pro Bowler has thrown at least one interception in six consecutive games. His two picks against the Titans gave him 14 for the season, tied with Derek Carr for most in the NFL.

Those mistakes don't look as bad when playing teams with inferior talent like the Texans and Titans. But if the Cowboys want to make a deep playoff run, Prescott will have to do a better job of protecting the ball.

In the same city where Reggie Miller became one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, Indiana Pacers guard Buddy Hield broke one of his NBA records on Thursday night.

Hield made a three-pointer three seconds into the Pacers' game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He caught the opening tipoff right in front of the three-point line and in one motion fired up a shot that hit nothing but net.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, Hield's shot three seconds into the game broke the previous mark of four seconds set by Miller on March 5, 2000.

The record has been tracked since the play-by-play era began with the 1996-97 season.

Miller's record-setting moment came in an otherwise forgettable game by his standards. The Pacers' legend scored 15 points on 4-of-14 shooting in a 114-95 win over the Golden State Warriors.

Hield had one of his most efficient games of the season on Thursday. He scored 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and made five of his six attempts from behind the arc.

The Pacers put together a fantastic performance, particularly in the second half, in their 135-126 win over the Cavs. They scored 71 points after halftime to earn their fourth victory in the past five games.

Indiana has been a pleasant surprise so far this season with a 19-17 record. It moved into sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings after beating the Cavaliers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are concerned that point guard Darius Garland could miss some time after suffering a thumb injury late in Thursday's 135-126 loss to the Indiana Pacers, according to Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor.

Garland sustained the injury in the fourth quarter after getting hit on the right hand by Indiana's Oshae Brissett while driving to the paint. He immediately grabbed his thumb before falling to the court in pain.

Garland, in obvious pain, remained in the game before head coach J.B. Bickerstaff called a timeout so he could get his thumb examined. He returned several minutes later with his thumb wrapped, though he didn't attempt a single shot after returning.

Garland is expected to undergo further testing to determine the extent of the injury. After the game, he said his thumb was "bothering" him:

I was just trying to go out there and compete as much as I could. The last two free throws, I looked at J.B. and I was like, 'Ah, I really don't want to shoot these.' But I got fouled and just tried to make two. They didn't go in. Everything hurt. I was playing with a wrapped thumb. I couldn't really do anything. I wasn't going to be effective with that. It was already throbbing and swollen at that point.

Garland has been taking shots all season, and the Cavaliers "believe the increased physicality is purposeful—a result of opponents determining that's the only method to slow the shifty, crafty and quick guard," Fedor wrote.

Garland discussed the physicality against him further following Thursday's loss:

"Just getting hacked all season. Nothing has changed. The physicality isn't a factor at all. It's the whistle not being blown at the right time when it's a foul, an obvious foul. Some of this stuff we should be reviewing."

During Cleveland's season-opening loss to the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 19, Garland suffered an eye injury that knocked him out of the team's next five games. Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. accidentally whacked Garland across the eye, and he suffered a vision-impacting laceration to his eyelid.

The 6-foot-1 point guard has gotten hit in the face so many times this season that he has suggested the team get him a mask or goggles "because it's getting out of hand."

"I'm just tired of getting hit in my face. But I like the aggressive defenses. It's kind of a statement to me and my game," Garland said, per Fedor. "It's super cool that people are just trying to tighten up their shoelaces for me."

Garland eventually returned to the court for a Nov. 2 win over the Boston Celtics, but sat out the next game with a sprained left knee. He has played every game since returning from that knee ailment in a Nov. 6 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The 22-year-old has emerged as a significant contributor for the Cavaliers on offense, and losing him for any period of time won't be good for Cleveland, which is mired in a three-game losing streak.

Through 30 games this season, Garland is averaging 21.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 45 percent from the floor and 40 percent from deep. If he misses time moving forward, Caris LeVert and Raul Neto would be in line to see more playing time alongside Donovan Mitchell

Cleveland is fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 22-14 record, four games behind the first-place Celtics. The Cavs are back in action on Saturday against the Chicago Bulls.

The Bijan Robinson-less Texas Longhorns fell to the Washington Huskies 27-20 in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Thursday night, but quarterback Quinn Ewers still put together one of his best performances of the season.

The freshman completed 31-of-47 passes for a career-high 369 yards, in addition to one touchdown in the loss.

Typically, the Longhorns would have relied heavily on Robinson, their junior running back, but he opted to not suit up for the game and declare for the 2023 NFL draft as he's expected to be a first-round pick.

In 2023 and beyond, Texas is going to have to rely more heavily on Ewers to lead the offense, and he gave fans plenty of hope that he can be the guy moving forward, even with the upcoming addition of Arch Manning.

Ewers, who reclassified from the 2022 recruiting class to the 2021 class, initially committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes out of high school. After riding the bench last season, he opted to enter the transfer portal, deciding Texas would be the best fit.

The 19-year-old had an up-and-down first season in Austin. Entering the Alamo Bowl, he had completed just 56.6 percent of his passes for 1,808 yards and 14 touchdowns against six interceptions.

Longhorns fans had questions about how Ewers would perform in the absence of Robinson, but Thursday's performance gave them confidence that he can lead the team to another winning season in 2023 without the star running back.

In just his fourth match since returning to the ring, Bray Wyatt suffered a broken finger.

Speaking to The Vlog Warriors during Thursday's house show in Miami, Wyatt revealed he broke the ring finger on his right hand in a match against Jinder Mahal.

Based on Wyatt's reaction to the injury, it doesn't seem like he is worried about missing time.

Despite making his return to WWE at Extreme Rules on Oct. 8, Wyatt has only appeared on television sporadically. He continues to tease the return of The Fiend character, with some of his promos being interrupted by a masked figure known as "Uncle Howdy."

On the Dec. 23 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Wyatt attacked a cameraman after struggling to get through a promo segment.

WWE is advertising a "Pitch Black match" at the Royal Rumble. It's unclear what the stipulation of the match will be, but the promo on social media does include a shot of Edge and fans reacting to Wyatt's entrance.

Wyatt returned to in-ring action at the Madison Square Garden house show on Dec. 26. The three-time WWE champion has been working singles matches against Mahal at all four shows on the holiday tour this week.

As WWE starts to ramp up the build for the Royal Rumble, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Wyatt become a bigger presence on Raw and SmackDown in the coming weeks.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: profanity).

AJ Styles could miss time after suffering an ankle injury during a WWE house show on Thursday night.

Per Mike Johnson of PW Insider, the Phenomenal One's injury is "100 percent legitimate" and not part of the storyline for the match between the O.C. and The Judgment Day.

"Styles was having issues putting weight on his left foot after the match and was walked out by WWE officials," Johnson wrote.

B/R's Erik Beaston posted a picture of Styles sitting on the ground outside the ring, with Karl Anderson and Mia Yim by his side.

Beaston also noted the referee put up the "X" signal that is used to indicate to the back a legitimate injury occurred and requires medical assistance.

According to Johnson, Styles is expected to get the injury examined as soon as possible. His status won't be determined until after a diagnosis is made.

The O.C. and Judgment Day recently wrapped up a feud that began in October when Anderson and Luke Gallows returned to WWE to team up with Styles.

Styles defeated Finn Bálor at Survivor Series: WarGames, while Yim was on Bianca Belair's team that defeated Rhea Ripley and Team Bayley in a WarGames match.

Most recently, the O.C. has been working against Baron Corbin, Chad Gable and Otis in a six-person feud. Styles defeated Sami Zayn in a singles match on the Dec. 19 episode of Raw.

If Styles has to miss time, it could force WWE to alter its plans for WrestleMania season. It's unknown what his role is going to be at the Royal Rumble, though he would presumably be in the men's Rumble match.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: profanity).