PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two of the Eagles fans who fell in that railing collapse at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, after the win against the Washington Football Team last weekend are refuting Washington's statement on the incident, as the quarterback who narrowly escaped harm is asking Washington to take action.
As Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts approached the entrance to the exit tunnel, a railing gave way and a group of fans waiting to greet him fell several feet onto the field. Hurts backed away and avoided injury, but some of the fans and those covering the game were not so lucky.
Mark Tenally, a photo runner for The Associated Press who was standing under the railing, was injured and attended to by medical personnel.
Hurts sent a letter to the NFL and the team, saying: "I am writing to inquire what follow-up action is being considered."
The Washington Football Team said that, to their knowledge, everybody involved was offered an on-site medical evaluation.
"Completely untrue," said Andrew Collins, 26, of Brooklawn, New Jersey.
The pair say they were not offered medical evaluation.
"We didn't do this on free will. Your stadium malfunctioned and dropped us down onto the field. Have some compassion, please," said Mike Naimoli, 26, of Sicklerville, New Jersey.
"They did nothing. They forced us up into the stands. They told us — and I quote — 'Get the eff up in the stands,'" Naimoli said.
"They gave me five seconds, and they were like, 'Dude, get out of here,'" said Collins.
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Video of the incident, which immediately went viral, shows at least nine people affected by the collapse. Collins and Naimoli said their significant others fell too.
Prince George's County EMS told KYW Newsradio that there were two patients when they got to the scene and one of them refused treatment.
By then, Collins and Namoli say, they were already out of there — but they were able to greet Hurts before they were rushed off the field and made to climb back into the stands.
Collins received his gloves.
"As soon as I hit the ground, the first thing and the only thing I thought about was: 'Dear God, please, Jalen Hurts' ankle and legs, be okay,'" said Collins.
"First thing I did, I went right to Jalen, and you can see me say to him, I'm like, 'Bro, are you okay?' And the only thing that he was asking was if we were okay. He actually told me to not worry about him. He's like, 'Don't worry about me. Are you okay?'"
Collins said he got a little dinged up. Naimoli indicated Tuesday morning that his hand and shoulder are sore.
"When I woke up, my neck was stiff as hell," he said.
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Collins and Naimoli say they are huge Hurts fans, and they were happy he came out unscathed.
"To be able to handle a situation like that and interact with fans like that — I feel like that was the moment where he solidified that he's the franchise quarterback in the city of Philadelphia," Naimoli said.
"Could you imagine if Jalen Hurts was two feet to the left, and that guardrail or the railing, whatever, fell on him? And now our starting quarterback has a blown-out knee because Washington's railing broke?" Collins said. "Dude, that story would be the biggest story in sports for the next couple of months."
KYW Newsradio reached out to the Washington Football Team for comment about their claims. As of late Tuesday afternoon, we had not heard back.
Listen to the full interview with Collins and Naimoli below. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, some quotations from Andrew Collins and Mike Naimoli were misattributed. The article is correct, as presented here.