Terrell Davis and his wife speak out after the incident on the United flight

Professional Football Hall of Fame member Terrell Davis is “still in shock from the traumatic events” that occurred on a United Airlines flight that resulted in him being handcuffed.

Davis and his wife, Tamiko, sat down with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” ​​on Wednesday to discuss how the weekend’s incident has affected their family.

The two-time Super Bowl champion said in an Instagram post over the weekend that a flight attendant falsely accused Davis of assault while he and his family were on a United flight on Saturday. The incident led to police briefly arresting him in front of his children.

“I look at my sons sitting right next to him watching their father being handcuffed,” Tamiko Roberts said, becoming visibly emotional. “And what could we do? And I ask them, ‘What’s going on?’ Why are they doing this?”

“I thought it was a joke, because what else could it be?” she added.

Davis tells Roberts: “I felt demoralized. I felt ashamed, humiliated. I felt as if my dignity had been taken away from me in front of my children and my family.”

He added: “I want United to be held accountable.”

Davis hopes that speaking about the experience will “make a difference.” “A lot of people have contacted me afterward and sent me text messages saying the same thing happened to them.”

United Airlines apologized to Davis in a statement, saying, “This is clearly not the type of travel experience we aim to provide and we have reached out to Mr. Davis’ team to apologize.”

The airline told ABC News that it had fired the flight attendant from his job.

In his account of the incident, Davis says the conflict began when the flight attendant at the drink service did not respond to his son’s request for a cup of ice. Davis said he “calmly reached behind me and lightly tapped his arm” to request the ice.

The flight attendant then reportedly shouted “Don’t hit me” and rolled the drinks cart to the front of the plane, which confused Davis and the other passengers.

“I didn’t think anything of it except that this particular employee was incredibly rude and was completely false in his accusations that I hit him,” he said. “I didn’t see or interact with him again for the entire flight.”

When the flight landed, six FBI and police agents boarded the plane and, without any explanation, handcuffed the former Denver Broncos running back in front of his wife and children. “Don’t fight back,” Davis recalls the agent whispering to him as he handcuffed him.

“I was then taken off the plane while several passengers filmed me as I was led off the plane in handcuffs by the officers,” Davis explained. “I was – and still am – humiliated, ashamed, powerless and angry.”

After being taken in for questioning by authorities, Davis said, “The officers correctly determined that the allegations made by this flight attendant were false. They apologized profusely and even offered to support me and my family in any way they could.”

Davis called the incident a “disgusting display of injustice and deplorable treatment by United Airlines.”

He added: “The trauma of having my two sons, my daughter and my wife watch me being handcuffed – without due process or any explanation – cannot be undone.”

Originally published: July 17, 2024 at 3:28 pm