A large piece of sheet metal fell from the roof of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, when the retractable ceiling opened before Monday night’s game between the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys.
Several reporters present, including Noah Bullard of NBC 5 DFWtook photos and videos of the fragment, which was quite large. Fortunately, the metal didn’t hit anyone when it fell from the roof, although several people in production at the stadium were reportedly nearby.
After the large piece of metal fell, stadium officials decided to close the roof. However, photographers and reporters noticed that there is still a loose piece of metal hanging from the trusses.
The piece was removed from the field and the match continued as planned. ESPN and ABC, of course, discussed the issue and both Troy Aikman and Joe Buck had fun with it as their broadcast got underway.
Meanwhile, amid concerns from NFL security that the game was not safe to play, the larger piece of metal was bolted to a walkway to prevent it from falling onto the field, ESPN’s Lisa Salters reported. The network showed video of the metal falling onto the stadium turf.
The Cowboys released a statement shortly after news of the incident circulated.
“We can confirm that a piece of metal became loose and fell onto the field (with some additional small debris) while the roof was in the process of opening,” the Cowboys said in a statement. “There have been no injuries. It is under further investigation and a decision will be made on the possibility of safely reopening the roof.”
The team also said that high winds during the day could have caused the problem ESPN’s Todd Archer.
Since no one was injured, many fans on social media naturally joked about the accident.
First off, that metal plate looks like it might be big enough to block the sunlight coming through the windows on the west side of the stadium. The blinding light has affected players on the field, most recently Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Others joked that this could be the damage left over from Friday’s boxing event at AT&T Stadium, culminating in the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. And viewers thought technical issues with the Netflix stream were the only issue plaguing the production.
The Texans had fun with it too. After their 34-10 win over the Cowboys, their social media team had the perfect response.
Humor aside, the Cowboys have not yet said what caused the piece of metal to fall off the roof. That certainly has yet to be determined. However, the first excitement about opening the stadium’s roof for the first time in two years was quickly interrupted by a very worrying incident that could have resulted in people being seriously injured.
