Chiefs defensive end Tershawn Wharton broke his silence Tuesday after catching a Kansas City fan who fell out of the stands after the team’s victory over the Carolina Panthers this past weekend.
Wharton said it was a ‘natural reaction’ catching the unidentified fan.
As Wharton was leaving the field at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, he took his gloves off to gift to the young fan in question as disaster nearly struck.
The child, wearing a Nick Bolton jersey, reached out to take the gloves from one of his heroes when he appeared to trip and fall head first over the edge of the stand.
Fortunately, Wharton was close by and appeared to catch the boy and help him climb back up into the stand.
‘It was a natural reaction. Usually when I leave a game I try to throw my gloves in the crowd. I heard my name a little bit and then I saw him coming down. There were two security guards there but I don’t think they realized what I was doing because they were looking at us but I just had to push him into the stands a little bit so he didn’t hit too hard.
‘I kind of grabbed him right by the back of his back and pushed him into the stands a little bit more.
‘I haven’t (spoken to him) but I would like to reach out to him and get him to a game and be able to reflect with him a bit more if I could.’
Wharton’s teammate, Carson Steele, can also be seen lifting the boy back into the stands safe and sound after the fall.
Due to the angle of the video, the exact moment Wharton caught the boy is unclear. What is pristine is the boy appeared to be uninjured after leaving the stands head first.
The kid was able to fall out of the lower bowl of the stadium and nearly onto the turf with a little part of the front row not having a railing for protection.
A stadium security guard was standing next to the boy hoping for Wharton’s gloves, but failed to catch him or stop him from falling into Wharton’s grasp.
