Defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton was in the right spot when a young fan fell out of the stands.
A defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs showed some pretty impressive hands Sunday.
After the Chiefs defeated the Carolina Panthers, defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton saved a young fan after he fell head-first out of the stands at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Wharton caught the boy and handed him back to his family, saying later that it was an instinctive reaction and that he hopes to meet the young fan and his family soon.
A user on X posted the
video of the incident. The fan, a blond boy wearing a white Nick Bolton jersey, can be seen leaning out over the field through a gap in the stadium railing. Wharton and running back Carson Steele walk up to the stands and take off their gloves, apparently intending to give them to the fans. A fan can be heard shouting his name.
A stadium security guard reaches out as the boy falls through the gap and disappears behind the low wall. Moments later, Wharton can be seen handing the boy back up through the gap and into the stands. The guard tells other fans that the boy fell and orders the other fans back to their seats.
“I don’t think bro has an account … but shoutouts to Tershawn Wharton for saving the [P]anthers from being sued,” the X user captioned the video.
The same user posted a
second video of what happened just before the fall. The same security guard can be seen yelling at a group of children, including the boy who fell, to get back. “You gotta get in!” the security guard exclaims as the children push through his outstretched arm. “You can’t lean over here,” the guard says to the boy who fell, pointing out the gap in the railing. The fan and some other boys continue to push the guard and each other. “Hey, hey, y’all got to quit pushing,” the guard says to the fans.
“Security guard was doing everything he could,” the user who posted the clip wrote.
Appearing on “
The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN Tuesday, Wharton explained the incident from his perspective.
“I’d say it was a natural reaction,” Wharton told McAfee. “Usually when I leave a game, I try to throw my gloves in the crowd, and I think I heard my name a little bit. When I heard my name, I saw him coming down. There were two security guards right there. I don’t think they realized what I was doing because they were looking at us, but I just had to kind of push him into the stands a little bit to make sure he didn’t hit too hard.”
Wharton said he did not get a chance to meet the fan.
“I would like to reach out to him, get him out to a game, and, you know, be able to reflect with him a little bit more if I could,” he said. McAfee expressed his hope that he would be able to connect with the fan.
In addition to plugging the gap in the stands and saving the fan from falling, Wharton also plugged a gap on the field and saved the Chiefs from falling to the Panthers. With
4:46 left in the game, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young escaped from pressure by Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones and rolled out to his right. Wharton chased down Young and forced him to throw out of bounds. The Panthers were forced to punt. Carolina tied the game with 1:46 left to play, but the Chiefs moved the ball quickly and made the game-winning field goal as time expired.
Wharton was signed out of Missouri University of Science and Technology as an undrafted free agent with the
Chiefs in 2020. He has played his whole career with Kansas City.
