ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS NEWS) -- A former New York Giants player rescued a man from the roof of a burning home near Rockaway Township, New Jersey this week, CBS New York reports.

Intense flames shot out of the house early Monday morning. 

When Cole Farrand, 23, woke up, he ran to the house next door and saw a man trapped on the roof.

Farrand used an extension ladder from his grandparents’ house to bring the man to safety as his frightened mother watched.

“He’s rescuing this man and the house is going, ‘Boom, bang!’ and the flames are flying up into the sky,” said Beverly Farrand. “Cole, he’s humble. He thinks anyone would’ve done that, and I don’t think just anyone would do it.”

It took volunteer firefighters several hours to contain the fire. It was unclear late Thursday how it started. 

Farrand signed with the Giants in May 2015 after starting 29 games for Maryland. The linebacker was released in September of the same year.