The afterglow of another epic Giants comeback win was dashed by the news that a 42-year-old fan suffered critical injuries while falling from an escalator at MetLife Stadium while leaving the stadium.
Contrary to multiple reports that the man fell roughly 20 feet, CBS 2 in New York reports that the fall actually exceeded 30 feet.
During the preseason, a fan died after falling from an escalator at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The incident was ruled an accident.
In the most recent case, it’s too early to draw conclusions about what happened and how it can be prevented in the future. But the challenge for the NFL, which wants to maximize the number of people who choose to attend games, will be to ensure that incidents like this are minimized or eliminated.
Sure, “accidents” happen. But plenty of accidents can be avoided. And the NFL has the resources to identify and rectify the places in a stadium where the risk of injury is the greatest, and to in turn eliminate that risk.
While it’s entirely possible that fans are in some cases creating their own risk, if the NFL is going to protect players from themselves on the field, the NFL needs to be willing to consider ways to protect fans from themselves off it.