Oklahoma State Student Equipment Manager Injured After Incident In Stands During Bedlam
If you have been on social media in the last two days, the likelihood is you have read or at last seen that there was an incident involving an Oklahoma State student equipment manager and Oklahoma fans in the stands of Gaylord-Family Memorial Stadium .
The incident took place in the 2nd quarter following an Oklahoma State field goal.
Apparently, it is a "tradition" that Sooner fans like to relay the opposing teams balls to the top of the stadium and then a fan launches the ball out of the stadium. Why they do this, I have no idea. But either way, for context, this is what the Sooner fans were attempting to do at the time.
The student manager, D.J. Kurtenbach, has a routine to fetch the balls in the stands both pre-game and during the game, both home and away. He knew of the so called tradition Oklahoma fans have with the ball. Because of this, D.J. placed himself near the top of the stands waiting for the ball to arrive. As fans tried to relay the ball, they fumbled it around and it fell to the ground. As part of DJ's job, he ran to collect the ball.
As he attempted at doing so, Oklahoma fans, reportedly five of them, tried to wrestle the ball away from DJ's arms, knocking him down in the process. In a video that was tweeted out by Fox 25's Anthony West, it appears that DJ then gets piled on by the fans.
OU fans really wanted to see that football go out of the stadium. pic.twitter.com/6Ntm7n5q4a
— Anthony West (@antdwest) November 22, 2020
Other Cowboy equipment managers saw what was happening and ran to his aid. They were trying to help him by peeling people off of him and getting him away from the threatening situation.
Unfortunately, DJ came out of the scrum with a broken rib and several more fractured.
The incident was first made public by his mother, who posted the story on Facebook, which then made its way to Twitter and beyond. However, Pokes Report's own Robert Allen saw the aftermath of DJ's injuries after he came back down to the field.
Robert, who was on the sideline, says he did not see the incident itself but that it was visible that DJ was in rough shape once he got back on the field.
DJ was taken to the trainers room by Oklahoma State's medical staff and treated. Robert went to the trainers room where he saw DJ had put into a sling and was having his ribs wrapped. He also said DJ was wincing and crying in pain while they were treating him.
Shortly after, during halftime, OU police were notified of the incident and came to speak with DJ. Oklahoma Athletics official joined them in listening to him.
Monday morning, Oklahoma Athletics released an official statement on the incident.
I spoke with a friend of mine, who happens to be DJ's roommate about how he is feeling and a possible recovery timeline. "He’s sore but better than Saturday," he said. A recovery timeline has not yet been decided and neither has whether DJ will be working this weekends Texas Tech home game.
