Bob Costas can add “hero” to his lengthy résumé.
The famed sports commentator recently performed the Heimlich maneuver on a diner at a restaurant in Syracuse, New York — ultimately saving his life, Pvnew can exclusively reveal.
The patron, who was Costas’ longtime friend, began to choke when the Emmy Award winner rushed to help him.
“Bob doesn’t think this was that big of a deal,” a rep for the longtime NBC Sports personality tells us.
“He really feels he did what just about anyone else would do in a similar situation.”
He later told “The Show With Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman” podcast that his friend had turned “crimson” so he “jumped up” to assist him.
“Luckily enough it worked out,” he shared. ”I don’t know if I saved his life, but I saved him considerable discomfort, that’s for sure.”
Costas, 71, has cut back tremendously on his sports commentating since he and NBC went through their breakup.
The Post first reported in August 2018 that the “Fair Ball” author and the network were figuring out a way to settle the final three years of his multimillion-dollar contract after failing to find a comfortable spot for the famed broadcaster in NBC’s changing platforms.
NBC and Costas came to an agreement in January 2019.
“It’s all settled quietly and happily for all concerned,” he told The Post at the time.
“If I do anything else, it will be a hybrid of my HBO show and ‘Later.’”
The Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee later expressed regret about how he and NBC had parted ways after decades of on-air coverage.
“I didn’t need a parade, but it would’ve been nice if I could’ve ended on a grace note,” he said on “In Depth with Graham Bensinger” in February 2022.
“I didn’t need a full-blown hour as a tribute to my career, as some people receive. I would’ve been fine if they had just had me do some sort of programming and then at the end, for two minutes, say goodbye.”
Costas added, “The only thing I wish about leaving NBC is that it ended on a more gracious note, and maybe we’ll circle back and make that right at some point, make it completely right.”
