8 year old Jets Fan laid out by a grown man
17 Nov 2010
An 8-year-old New York Jets fan was tackled by an adult Browns fan after Sunday’s game, according to a television station in Cleveland.
The boy went to the game at Cleveland Browns Stadium in a Jets jersey with his father, who was born in New York. Much to the chagrin of the local crowd, the Jets rallied for a 26-20 overtime victory. The boy’s mother, identified only as Danielle by ABC affiliate WEWS because she didn’t want to reveal her last name, said the fans in the stadium were great, but things got out of control after the game.
“Calling him a bad word, to my husband and to my son, throwing food at them,” she said, according to WEWS.
When the family reached the parking lot, the situation got uglier.
“As [my husband] was walking, holding my son’s hand, a guy from behind tackled him. A drunken Browns fan tackled him and pulled him out of his dad’s hand. He was on the ground crying,” Danielle said, according to the station.
The boy was left with a scraped and bruised ankle. The mother said her husband didn’t call police, opting instead to quickly get in the car and leave. But the mother wrote a letter to The Plain Dealer in Cleveland detailing what happened.
When reached by the television station, Browns vice president of media relations Neal Gulkis called the situation unfortunate and disappointing and said the team is looking into the matter.
Gulkis said the scoreboard displays a number fans can text message to alert security to disorderly fans. The city of Cleveland, which operates the parking lot where the alleged incident took place, previously had added extra security.
The boy’s mother had been nervous about her son attending the game, but believed “kids are off limits. Clevelanders are such great people. I knew that they would never hurt an 8-year-old kid, never.”
The boy might be seeing his next Jets game in New Jersey.
“My husband asked him, ‘Did you have a good time?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Would you want to go back sometime?’ And he said, ‘No, I don’t like Browns Stadium.’ Who could blame him?” the boy’s mother said.