Update: The United Airlines employee who was recorded in a fight with a former NFL player has been terminated from his job.
“United Ground Express informed us that the employee has been terminated,” an airline representative said in an email.
Mark Heim
The passenger seen in a viral video punching a United Airlines worker at an airport has been identified as former NFL player Brendan Langley.
He was arrested Monday and charged with assault following a confrontation with a United Airlines worker at Newark (N.J.) Liberty International Airport, according to TMZ.
Langley appears to be slapped by the employee before punching the worker. The United Airlines employee falls over the check-in desk, stumbles and tries to confront Langley even as he is bleeding from the head.
It is not clear who instigated the fight. Langley, however, claimed that he did not throw the first punch, according to TMZ.
A spokesperson for United Airlines told TMZ the employee has been fired following the incident.
Langley, a third-round pick by the Denver Broncos in the 2017 NFL Draft, has been out of the NFL since 2018 and is currently with the Calgary Stampede of the Canadian Football League as a wide receiver.
Langley committed to the Georgia Bulldogs in November 2012 and spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the program before transferring out and spending his final two collegiate seasons at Lamar.
Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.
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