Fan on field tackled by Bobby Wagner claims to have suffered concussion after Rams star's hit
A fan who ran on the field last week and was tackled by Bobby Wagner has now claimed that he was concussed by the hit. The incident took place in the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers.
To recap, this fan, whose name is Alexander Taylor, ran onto the field with a pink smoke bomb while the game was in progress. He entered the playing field and then proceeded to run around, evading security.
As people pursued to catch him, Bobby Wagner entered from the sideline and put a stop to his frolicking. It also allowed the security personnel to come and remove him from the scene.
Did the guy dressed in all black at the top of the screen blow his ACL?? https://t.co/4YZewOINuI
The fan has now gone ahead and filed a police report claiming assault by Bobby Wagner. He filed the report on October 4 at 1:45 PM, a day removed from the game, claiming that the Los Angeles Rams linebacker's actions that day had left him with multiple injuries. The cops said in the report:
"Mr. Taylor had a headache, a concussion without loss of consciousness, and a burn on his inner right bicep."
Who was the fan that Bobby Wagner flattened?
As we come to know more about this allegation, we are also coming to know a bit more about the fan Alexander Taylor. As it turns out, he is a member of the group 'Direct Action Everywhere'.
He, along with a friend of his, decided to protest in the second quarter of the match to bring awareness for a trial involving the alleged threat of pigs from a factory farm. A spokesperson for the group confirmed that they are considering Bobby Wagner's intervention as a "brutal assault".
BREAKING: DxE activists just DISRUPTED an NFL game with smoke flares to raise awareness about the #SmithfieldTrial and the #RightToRescue. DxE activist Alex Taylor was TACKLED by Bobby Wagner and DxE activist Allison Fluty was tackled by security. https://t.co/8eQss5wgMN
In Wagner's defense, though, the footage suggests that he does not engage with the the fan separately except to bring him down so that the security persons can intervene and take him away.
Wagner himself said that he did so for safety reasons. Head coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams has given a robust defense and stood up for his player by saying:
"We all know where Bobby's intentions were, and I support Bobby Wagner."
Wagner's intervention removed a trespasser from the field at that point and he worked to assist law enforcement. While the law takes its own course, there will be a few people still sympathetic to the injuries suffered by the fan though he willingly entered the pitch with the game going on.