Dave Clark

dclark@cincinnati.com

Eric Kresser, a Cincinnati native and backup quarterback for the Bengals from 1997 to 1999, performed CPR on a man at a Starbucks in West Virginia, saving his life, according to a story by herald-dispatch.com's Tim Stephens.

Kresser played quarterback at Florida before transferring to Marshall for his senior year. He was in Huntington on Saturday for the reunion of the Thundering Herd's 1996 NCAA Division I-AA national championship football team.

More from Stephens' story:

James Cameron fell to the floor and was turning blue when Kresser revived him before an ambulance arrived. "I thought he was just getting his breath," said Kresser, who lives with wife Jenna in Jupiter, Florida. "Someone touched his shoulder and he didn't respond. Then I touched his shoulder and he didn't respond. I thought he was gone and he probably was. We got him on his back and he had no pulse and wasn't breathing, so I performed CPR." As a teacher and football coach, Kresser is required to be certified in CPR, but he said he had never put the training in practice until Saturday. "I just did what I was taught to do," Kresser said. "The kids I teach don't want to go to their CPR class. They'd rather play basketball or something. Maybe this will help them understand how important it is."

The 43-year-old Kresser played in two games for the Bengals in 1998.