The Carolina Panthers hope tight end Jeremy Shockey will be clutch in their passing game this season. He’s already come up big this year in another department — saving a life.

The agent for tight end Ben Hartsock told the National Football Post that Shockey came to the aid of his client in the Panthers’ lunch room when a piece of pork tenderloin became lodged in Hartsock’s throat.

“(Hartsock) started to go to the bathroom and I don’t know if he collapsed, but he couldn’t breathe,” agent Mike McCartney told the website. “Some new guy came and tried to give him the Heimlich. It didn’t work. Then, Shockey hit him in the back pretty hard and out came the meat. The Panthers told me it was really scary.

– Pat Yasinskas, ESPN.com.

How good must the pork in the Panthers’ lunch room be if Ben Hartsock isn’t even bothering to chew it before swallowing? Also, I wonder how much pork you need to buy to feed an entire NFL team.

Furthermore, I’d be remiss if I didn’t note the non-zero chance Shockey just happened to punch Hartsock in the back at exactly the time Hartsock was choking, rendering the former Giant an accidental, Larry David-style hero.

Is it me or have there been a lot of Heimlich-related news stories lately?

Via Mike.