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NFL chain gang member takes hard fall in Bears-Texans game, carted off field

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•09/15/24
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(John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

NFL sidelines can be a dangerous place, requiring that you keep your head on a swivel at all times. Sometimes even when you do disaster can strike.

Such was the case in the Sunday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans, with a member of the chain gain suffering an injury and getting carted off the field.

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The injury occurred when a Texans offensive play developed toward the sideline. The official accidentally took a step backward as the play moved toward him, stepping on the 20-yard line marker and falling over it backwards.

As he fell, he hit his head on the turf, glasses flying off his head behind him.

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“I was standing right by him. His name is Dwight Steffler,” NBC sideline reporter Melissa Stark reported on the air. “He is part of the chain crew.

“He initially, when the play ran out towards him, you could see right there, fell back and hit his head. And the Bears medical staff immediately came over to try to help. They brought over the paramedics and their equipment. They sat him up and he began talking. And they asked for the cart to come out and now you can see him. I’m a little bit blocked from him, but they have him getting ready to take him off the field.”

Steffler has worked on the chain gang for several years and has even served in the Super Bowl in the past. Unfortunately, he was not the only official tended to in Sunday’s action.

NFL chain gang member undergoes CPR

A chain gang member was administered CPR and carted off the field after he collapsed during the Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders game.

“Scary situation in Baltimore: A member of the chain gang collapsed on the Ravens’ sideline and was quickly administered CPR by medical officials,” Ari Meirov wrote on Twitter. “He has since been carted off the field and taken inside. Players took a knee in prayer.”

The Ravens released a statement after the incident.

“A member of the chain gang crew collapsed,” the statement read. “He was immediately attended to by medical personnel. Upon leaving the field, he was alert and responsive. He’s being taken to a local hospital.”

All in all a pretty rough day for officials on NFL sidelines.