Emile Heskey saved my life when I got into a fight with a giant shirtless Dumb Bucket who wanted to kill me in the tunnel.
Emile Heskey was famous for putting his teammates first, even when they were about to get beat.
The 62-time England international and member of the Premier LeagueThe 100-goal club is a cult hero for his selfless play and ability to help his strike partner play at their highest level.
Best remembered for his iconic relationship with Michael Owen for England and LiverpoolHeskey regularly put his body on the line to distract a defender, chase down a loose ball or set up one of his numerous goals and assists.
However, what most people don't know is that he was also happy to get involved in extracurricular activities, if the moment called for it.
One such incident occurred in 2003, when Liverpool faced… Celtic in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.
The first leg at Celtic Park ended 1-1, with Heskey cancelling out Henrik Larsson's early goal.
However, despite his heroism, Heskey's work for the night was not over, as Danny Murphy he remembered.
“Emile was a nice lad, quiet but a great lad, and one time we played Celtic away and I accidentally got into a fight with Bobo Balde,” the talkSPORT presenter recalled.
“We were out for a run and I accidentally ran into him and thought I had hit him, but I hadn’t. He started hitting me a lot, so I hit him back a bit, as you usually do, which was a mistake.
“I should have kept quiet because I am not the one to get involved in that.”
Balde, a 6-foot-5, tough defender, took things personally and Murphy only realized he was in trouble at the last moment.
He continued: “As we were leaving, I caught Bobo Balde in the corner of the tunnel with his upper body missing, but I didn’t think it was for me, which it was.
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“As I got a little closer, he came flying at me and Emile jumped in, pinned him down and stopped him, but Emile’s strength saved my life, not to mention my day.
“He just told him to calm down. He has that side, I think all his uncles were goalkeepers and he has that side.”
Despite Heskey taking the steam out of the match, Celtic would go on to win the return leg at Anfield 2-0 and advance to the UEFA Cup final, where they lost 3-2 to Jose Mourinho's Porto.
Instead, Murphy and Heskey would lift the League Cup that season, one of five trophies the pair lifted together at Anfield.
Adding more on the Leicester-born striker, whom Murphy called one of the most underrated forwards he has ever shared a football pitch with, he said: “The biggest compliment I can pay him is that he always made everyone around him play better.
“He worked very hard, but his overall game was much better than people think. He could shoot with both feet, he was great in the air, in the holding game, but he was very selfless. Also, when he played angry, he was not far from unbeatable.”
Overall, Heskey wasn't a bad guy to have on your side, both on and off the pitch.
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