Monday Night Football: Metal fragment falls from AT&T Stadium roof after opening before Texans-Cowboys game

On By Littum

In this general exterior view of AT&T Stadium, the setting sun reflects its sunlight on the Dallas Cowboys' home field after an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. . (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

Opening the retractable roof at AT&T Stadium for the Week 11 NFL game between the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys turned out to be an uncertain decision. (AP Photo/Michael Ainsworth)

A large piece of sheet metal fell from the roof of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, when the ceiling opened before Monday night’s game between the Houston Texans and the Dallas Cowboys.

Several reporters on hand, including NBC 5 DFW’s Noah Bullardtook pictures and videos of the fragment, which was quite large. Fortunately, the metal did not hit anyone when it fell from the roof, although several people who work in production at the stadium were reportedly nearby.

After the large piece of metal fell, stadium officials decided to close the roof. However, photographers and journalists noticed that a loose piece of metal is still hanging from the rafters.

The play was taken off the field and the game proceeded as planned. Of course, ESPN and ABC picked up on the issue, and both Troy Aikman and Joe Buck had fun with it when their broadcast went live.

Meanwhile, amid NFL security concerns that the game was not safe to play, the larger piece of metal was bolted to a catwalk to prevent it from falling onto the field, ESPN’s Lisa Salters reported. The network showed video of the metal falling onto the stadium’s turf.

Cowboys issued a statement shortly after news of the incident circulated.

“We can confirm that a piece of metal came loose and fell to the field (with some additional debris) while the roof was in the process of opening,” the Cowboys said in a statement. “There were no injuries. It is being reviewed further and a decision will be made as to whether the roof can be safely reopened.”

The team also said strong winds during the day may have caused the problem, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer.

Since no one was hurt, plenty of fans on social media naturally had jokes about the mishap.

First, that sheet metal looks like it might be big enough to block sunlight streaming through the windows on the west side of the stadium. The blinding light has affected players on the field, especially Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb recently.

Others joked that these could be injuries left over from the boxing event held at AT&T Stadium on Friday, headlined by the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. And viewers thought technical issues with the Netflix stream were the only problem plaguing the production.

The Texans had fun with it too. After their 34-10 win over the Cowboys, their social media team had the perfect response.

Humor aside, the Cowboys have yet to say what caused the piece of metal to fall from the roof. It is definitely still unsettled. However, the initial voltage about to open the stadium roof for the first time in two years was quickly hit by a very worrying incident that could have resulted in people being seriously injured.