Joe Buck appeared to stick his foot in his mouth during the Thursday Night Football broadcast of the Chargers vs. Chiefs game.
The FOX play-by-play announcer was revisiting the unsettling scene earlier in the game when Chargers tight end Donald Parham Jr. was required to leave on a stretcher after slamming his head on the turf.
FOX showed Parham’s arms shaking as he was strapped to the stretcher — an unnerving sight to see for someone who just suffered a head injury and taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
Buck addressed the shot FOX showed by starting off saying he would “never speculate about any injury, especially that type,” but then attempted to do just that.
Buck said: “When you see his arms shaking and his hands shaking on his way out, that’s the part that’s most unnerving. I will add this: it is very cold, at least by Los Angeles standards, down on the field and hopefully that is more the issue than anything else.”
Needless to say, many on social media were stunned and began crushing the announcer for such speculation.
Many pointed out that Parham may been experiencing something called “fencing response,” which is when the arms are held flexed or extended for a period of time after impact or moderate forces have been applied to the brainstem.
Hopefully Parham is indeed okay, but Buck’s speculation was not the route to go.
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