Moments after the Washington Football Team fell at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles by a 20-16 margin on Sunday, a railing collapsed near the tunnel at FedEx Field. A handful of fans tumbled to the ground, just in front of Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, and the entire incident was caught on video.
#Eagles QB Jalen Hurts was sacked only once during today’s game. Almost had a second on his way to the locker room. pic.twitter.com/WwBE5pXaxO
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 2, 2022
Following the incident, Washington issued an official statement, indicating that fans were “offered onsite medical evaluation and left the stadium of their own accord.” In addition, the team indicated that “the safety of our fans and guests is of the utmost importance and we are looking into what occurred.”
With that as the backdrop, Tim McManus of ESPN caught up with four people that dispute the Football Team’s claims. One told ESPN that the team’s statement was “completely incorrect” and he shared sentiment about team personnel telling everyone to “get the F off the field.” Another said that on-site personnel “didn’t ask if anyone was hurt, and they sure as hell didn’t ask if anybody needed medical attention.”
Finally, another fan said that it was Hurts, not local personnel, that offered any sympathy or attention.
“They didn’t even ask, ‘Are you OK? Do you need help?’ Nothing. They just went about their day. Hurts was actually the one asking, ‘Are you guys OK?’ It was crazy.”
The next steps will be interesting in this particular case and, at the moment, the team and the fans are on opposing sides. However, it is quite difficult to give the Washington Football Team the benefit of the doubt given the organization’s lengthy history of missteps, and this remains a bizarre overall scene.