In Week 17 of the NFL season, shortly after the Philadelphia Eagles took down the Washington Commanders in a 20-16 victory, Jalen Hurts was walking off the gridiron at FedEx Field when suddenly a stadium railing collapsed, causing injuries to several fans. It was a scary incident for everyone involved, and it almost led to Hurts himself getting hurt as the destruction fell just inches away from where the quarterback was walking.
This apparently occurred due to the poor maintenance conditions of FedEx Field, which opened back in 1996.
Despite having nothing to do with the incident other than being there at the time of the collapse, Hurts stuck around to help attend to fans, even taking the time to pose for pictures with a few of them.
The fallout included Hurts writing a letter with specific steps to be taken to assure an incident of this type never occurs again. It appears those requests have been fulfilled.
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Washington Commanders reached out to Jalen Hurts
According to ESPN, Commanders president Jason Wright contacted Jalen Hurts just a few days after the railing failure, and the two reportedly spent roughly an hour discussing what measures should be taken to help remedy the situation.
One obvious move was to replace the railing itself, fortifying the area where fans previously fell onto the field.
In addition to replacing the railing, the Commanders have added security throughout the stadium and strengthened other fan railing areas close to the field of play.
Ultimately, the Commanders offered on-site medical evaluations to anyone seeking assistance, and everyone was able to leave the stadium on their own accord, yet four others have claimed that they did not receive any care.
Meanwhile, the Commanders have now restricted many areas closest to the fans and want to point out that the original site of the incident was meant for people with disabilities and was actually designed for wheelchair access. Meaning the railing was not ever supposed to be able to hold up with hundreds of pounds leaning against it. Again, others suggest a member of stadium security granted them access to the area where the fan railing collapsed. As you can see, there are now signs up indicating the area is restricted.
Who knows? At least the Commanders have taken steps toward improving fan safety at their football games. Hopefully, it’s enough to keep everyone healthy on gameday.
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