The Dallas Cowboys' plans to open the AT&T Stadium roof for Monday night's game against the Houston Texans were nixed when a thin piece of sheet metal fell from the roof onto the field nearly three hours before kick-off.
The Cowboys' staff began to open the retractable roof just after 4:00 p.m. central on Monday. About 20-25 minutes into its opening, a piece of sheet metal "about five yards long and a yard-and-a-half wide" came down from the roof and landed near one of the end zones, Cowboys sideline reporter Kristi Scales told Eric Chiofalo and Bryan Broaddus on the Cowboys pregame show on 105.3 The Fan.
Scales said she saw the piece of metal wafting down from the sky and land in a corner of the field between one of the goal lines and the 10-yard line. No one was injured.
An image of the object was captured by videographer Noah Bullard of NBC 5, media partner of 105.3 The Fan.
105.3 The Fan's Bobby Belt captured a photo of another piece of metal in the catwalk of the roof.
The Cowboys elected to close the roof for the rest of the night as a precaution due to high winds North Texas was experiencing on Monday afternoon. This would have been the 8th time the team played with an open roof and closed doors.