Bob Costas ‘saves fellow diner by performing Heimlich maneuver at a restaurant’… but legendary 71-year-old announcer’s rep deflects praise: ‘He doesn’t think this was a big deal’

Usually accustomed to calling the action, announcer Bob Costas found himself in the center of it while dining out recently.

As reported by The New York Post, Costas successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on a fellow diner.

That person was seated at another table at the unidentified restaurant, but when they began to choke, the award-winning broadcaster jumped into action.

But while Costas is famously verbose when discussing the accomplishments of others, the 71-year-old Long Island native was too humble to say much about saving another person’s life.

‘Bob doesn’t think this was that big of a deal,’ a Costas rep told the Post. ‘He really feels he did what just about anyone else would do in a similar situation.’

Costas still does play-by-play and studio work for TBS and MLB Network, but has cut back on his famously busy schedule in recent years.

He stepped down from NBC in 2019 in what his manager, Sandy Montag, deemed an amicable split.

‘Everything in this transition was planned and done (by) mutual agreement,’ Montag said in an emailed statement. He said Costas had a ‘great partnership’ with executives including Dick Ebersol and Mark Lazarus, the current NBC Broadcasting & Sports chairman.

Costas, 66, served as the emcee for NBC’s Olympics 11 times starting in 1992. In early 2017, he stepped aside for network newcomer Mike Tirico, formerly with ESPN.

Costas is pictured alongside Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda after the 1988 World Series

When the switch was announced in early 2017, Costas said he had decided on his own that the time was right for a change. He said then he wanted to do long-form programming and commentary on special events, likening his new role to what former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw does for the network.

On Tuesday, Costas told the New York Post of his decision to leave NBC Sports, saying his departure was settled ‘quietly and happily for all concerned.’

In August 2018, the paper reported that he was no longer satisfied with his role at NBC and a contract that limited his participation in other projects.

Costas, who joined NBC Sports in 1979, has covered baseball, football and basketball and horse racing as well as served as the face and voice of the Olympics.