Photo:Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

NFL player Braylon Edwards attends DIRECTV Super Saturday Night Featuring Special Guest Justin Timberlake & Co-Hosted By Mark Cuban’s AXS TV

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Former NFL star Braylon Edwards says he intervened in a fight at his local YMCA in Michigan, helping to save the life of an 80-year-old man.

“The noise escalates, and then you can hear some pushing and shoving, so you know what fighting sounds like, but once I hear a thud, that’s when I got up and turned around,” Edwards told the station.

The retired wide receiver found a 25-year-old man assaulting an 80-year-old man, he recalled to WDIV.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Mark Cunningham/Getty Images

Braylon Edwards #17 of the New York Jets looks on from the sidelines against the Detroit Lions during the game

After local schools were placed on a precautionary lockdown, the suspect was found and taken into custody without incident, police said.

Edwards said he didn’t realize the severity of the situation until later when he spoke with police.

The victim was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in serious but stable condition, the Farmington Hills Police Department said.

For Edwards — who retired from the NFL in 2012 after playing for the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers — stepping in was the right thing to do.

“At the end of the day, I was just, that’s what you do,” he told WDIV. “People go to work out, they have a good time, they live 80 years, and this isn’t how they expect for something maybe [to] take their life. My mom, my grandmother, my father, in that moment, when you come back home, these are the people you think about.”

source: people.com