New England Patriots season ticketholders Jim Crocker and John Tuomi arrived early at Gillette Stadium Saturday for the Christmas Eve matchup between the Pats and the New York Jets.

It’s a good thing they did.

The two men, firefighters from different departments who became friends at the academy nine years ago, were settling into their seats about 20 minutes before kickoff when they heard a plea.

“A gentleman about two rows down went into cardiac arrest,’’ said Crocker, a lieutenant with the Groton Fire Department. “We heard one of his sons calling for help.’’

Crocker and Tuomi, who works for the Westford Fire Department, sprung to action.

They checked for a pulse. Nothing. They laid the 61-year-old man down on the ground and began administering CPR, Crocker said in a telephone interview.

“We were able to send someone to go get help and send someone to get an AED,’’ Crocker said. An automatic external defibrillator is used to correct heart arrythmias.

Crocker said they were able to restore a faint pulse, but it didn’t last. A police officer arrived to take over CPR as the two off-duty firefighters delivered two shocks with the AED.

A private ambulance arrived soon after and took the man to the hospital.

“The training just kicked in,’’ Crocker said, recalling the episode. “It’s one of those things that you get into this business to help people, and even though you clock out, you’re still there to help people.

“We do a bunch of these every year, and unfortunately the outcome isn’t always a good one.’’

The quick response in Foxborough, however, saved the man’s life.

He didn’t regain consciousness while he was with Crocker and Tuomi, but the man was alert by the time he reached the hospital.

Foxborough Fire Chief Roger Hatfield said everything went well for the man in surgery and he was released Monday.

A doctor later told Crocker he knew the man had received swift and efficient help because there was no scarring on his heart, like there would normally be after a heart attack.

The two men eventually settled down to watch the Pats cruise to a 41-3 win over their rivals.

“Jimmy’s girlfriend was at the game and she kept asking us ‘Do you know what you guys just did? Now you’re just standing there and drinking beer,’’’ Tuomi told the Globe. “We said, ‘Of course, we’re watching the game.’’’

Crocker said they’re used to springing to action quickly and then being able to turn it off and relax, but the man was on his mind the whole game.

Tuomi said they went to the hospital to check on the man. “We were able to talk to the staff there, and they said the guy had a successful procedure done, so we were pretty excited,’’ Tuomi said.

Crocker said hearing the man was OK was “a very nice Christmas Eve gift.’’

Tuomi said they also heard an update when the patient was released from the hospital.

“We weren’t originally overly optimistic, but then to hear the day after Christmas that he was released — that was a great feeling,’’ Tuomi said. “It was unbelievable.’’

Tuomi said they would not have been as successful without the help of the ambulance workers and Foxborough fire and police.

“Anybody else would have done it. We were just the closest ones,’’ Tuomi said.

Dylan McGuinness can be reached at dylan.mcguinness@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DylMcGuinness.