Player kicks ball right into fans face, a breakdown
What Happened
In the dying moments of a tense MLS match between the New York Red Bulls and the Philadelphia Union, Red Bulls midfielder Dru Yearwood becomes increasingly frustrated as his team trails by a goal in extra time. With time running out, Yearwood leaps to win a header, but the ball bounces loose in the box. In a last-ditch effort to score and equalize, Yearwood boots the ball forcefully towards the goal. However, the ball takes a strange trajectory, sailing straight into the stands and striking a female fan directly in the face. Yearwood, visibly distraught, immediately rushes over to the stands to apologize. The female fan's brother, who is also a Red Bulls supporter, confronts Yearwood and angrily refuses to accept the apology, even going so far as to scarf the player and demand that he leave. "No, we don't accept your apology at all," the brother says sternly. "Get out of here." Replays show the ball striking the female fan with significant force, causing concern for her well-being. Further analysis reveals that the ball ricocheted off the fan and then hit a young child sitting nearby in the head as well. The incident sparks a tense and awkward interaction, with Yearwood attempting to make amends but the fan's brother firmly rejecting his overtures. "I'm just trying," Yearwood pleads, only to be met with the brother's unwavering dismissal: "Nope, nope, off you go. You hurt my sister, and I don't, nope, nope, off you get out of here." The dramatic sequence underscores the potential dangers of errant balls and the passionate emotions that can arise when professional athletes and fans collide. Yearwood, visibly distraught, is shown a red card for the incident, signaling the end of his involvement in the match. As the camera pans the crowd, it reveals a newborn baby sitting close to the impact zone, further emphasizing the gravity of the situation and Yearwood's fortunate escape from an even more tragic outcome. The incident serves as a sobering reminder of the importance of player-fan safety and the need for heightened awareness and precautions in the often unpredictable environment of live sporting events.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentreally bizarre situation in mls where a
player went into the crowd to apologize
and got scarfed said we do not accept
your apology even though he's a fan of
the team the guy's on so let's go back
to the beginning the red bull new york
football club are losing to philadelphia
in extra time it's getting frustrated
our guy yearwood in the white goes up
for the header there and the ball is
just ratting around as they kill time
and he's got it and he's going to go
score and make it a one goal game and a
hope a no he gets stopped
game's gonna end they're losing they've
lost it's frustrating he's frustrated
he's gonna try and tackle the ball gets
called for it boots it into the crowd it
says oh i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i
didn't mean to hit you ref comes over to
give him a yellow card and he
feels so bad he's going into the crowd
to apologize i'll show you the kick it's
pretty violence like not really a
laughing matter at all but what's funny
is that the brother of the girl who got
hit in the head
is like no we don't accept your apology
at all and he scarfs them and i just
never seen a guy get scarfed you're a
professional player nope
nope
i'm just trying nope
nope
nope off off you go
you hurt my sister and i don't i'm oh
get out off
you get out of here
that girl got hit
in the face with a ball that kid it
might have grazed him and the scariest
thing is when they go wide right here
again and they show the crowd and you
saw who else was in line to get maybe
hit by this ball and it's a little
newborn baby with a cute red bow
my stomach dropped and this dude is
lucky
he did not hit that little baby
i mean he's not really lucky at all
because he hit a kid and then a girl
i'll go show it i'm gonna show it once
we're not gonna really harp on it but it
it hits her right in the face
oh it could have been so bad the ball
look how far the ball flies back did it
hit that person in the head i didn't
notice that
okay so he kicks it really hard
the average soccer kick is like 70 miles
per hour he's obviously frustrated and
just trying to kick it into the wall but
it goes up it hits that girl and then
did it hit
that other person in the head all the
way to the left
oh i think it hit the kid in front
of her i didn't want to do this so slow
all right she gets hit i think it then
hits the kid on the head
in front of her after hitting her i
didn't know and then it comes all the
way across her screen and is it going to
hit that person's head he hit three
people in the head with this one kick
i did not realize it hit that person in
the head as well at the very end
man
pinball effect that's nuts
and and he didn't realize it because
look this is how hard he kicks it
all right he gets the ball and then
bam
and maybe he did see it actually right
there because i thought he turned really
quick
he got a red card he was sad
he was pretty distraught over it
i'm hoping he's sad about
hurting people in the public and kids
and not about getting kicked out of the
game and or losing the game i hope that
girl's doing all right i couldn't find
any article on it that kid i think it
hit her then it hit that kid in the head
just a bizarre scene i didn't realize it
hit the third person in the head as well
obviously look at all their faces i
didn't ever see usually a player goes
into the stands to apologize
the fan of that team is going to accept
the apology and said he got scarfed and
i never seen someone get scarfed
and he gives the scarf back he's like
you can keep your scarf no
no
off if he would have put it behind his
head and like on his neck
would he have just worn it would it been
received more as a gift then and not you
know get out of here i got that kid in
the good older brother camp immediately
stood up when i saw that little baby
sitting there oh my my whole stomach
dropped