WATCH: Former Marine, College Wide Receiver Catches Baby Thrown From Burning Building

What a hero.

28-year-old retired Marine and former junior college wide receiver Phillip Blanks rushed to the scene of this apartment fire in Phoenix and ended up saving a 3-year-old's life, catching the child who was tossed from the third-floor balcony.

ABC7 — "Instinct. There wasn't much thinking. I just reacted. I just did it," he told Eyewitness News in recalling the moment.

The 28-year-old says he was raised with the mindset of always looking to help others: He served in the U.S. Marines and now works in the security industry.

And of course his time as a wide receiver at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo in 2016-17 was a big help too.

"I know how to catch," he says. "I've learned how to catch a football. So I'll give some credit to football."

"He was twirling in the air like a propeller," he recalled. "I just did my best. His head landed perfectly on my elbow. His ankle got twisted up as I was diving. The guy who was there with me - it looked like he wasn't going to catch him. So that's why I stepped in. I just wanted to make a better catch."

There always seems to be some sort of football connection when guys save people from burning buildings. Never forget the Philadelphia man who, after saving multiple people, used his airtime to bash Eagles receiver Nelson Agholor.

I know the Arizona Cardinals just got DeAndre Hopkins, but maybe they should give Blanks a look at receiver. He seems to have a knack for making some pretty critical catches.