Blogger’s note: When was the last time you read saw the NFL and PETA mentioned in the same article? Strange bedfellows made good news today!

Chandler, Arizona ? For heroically rescuing a horse who was stuck belly-deep in mud, Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Leonard Davis will receive PETA’s “Compassionate Action” Award.

According to news reports, Davis had just returned to his Chandler home when he noticed that Ranger, a horse, was stuck in a sinkhole across the street. The mud was up to the horse’s belly. Without hesitating, Davis fastened straps around Ranger and used his John Deere tractor to pull the frightened animal free from the mud. Davis then hosed Ranger down, as neighbors and emergency responders looked on.

Davis?who packs more than 360 pounds into his 6-foot-6-inch frame and recently signed a lucrative seven-year deal with the Cowboys?said that he used to regularly free horses who got stuck in the mud on his family’s farm and modestly called his rescue of Ranger “no big deal.”

“Leonard might think that his rescue of Ranger was ?no big deal,’ but Ranger?who’s doing fine?probably feels otherwise,” says PETA Director Daphna Nachminovitch. “Although Leonard is best known for letting defenses think that they just hit a brick wall, it’s his soft spot for animals in need that makes him a real hero.”