Chargers Social Media Pokes Fun at Scary Elevator Incident Following Win Over Raiders

Valentina Martinez | Sep 9, 2024

Sep 8, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Quentin Johnston (1) carries the ball against Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jack Jones (18) in the second half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Following the Week 1 victory, the Los Angeles Chargers used the phrase "no elevators" in a postgame social media post as a jest toward the elevator incident that occurred at the preseason finale.

No player or member of the traveling party that was involved in the incident sustained any injuries and the elevator situation has become an ongoing joke for the team.

#noelevators pic.twitter.com/qzbLoQXTIE

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) September 8, 2024

On Aug. 23 several Chargers players and members of the traveling party were stuck in a Dallas hotel elevator for hours. The team was on the road for their preseason finale with the Dallas Cowboys.

Dallas Fire-Rescue helped the group out of the inoperable elevator. Each person had to be assisted one by one through the ceiling panel.

The elevator was reportedly stuck in a "blind shaft" somewhere between the third and fifteenth floors of the Dallas hotel.

There were approximately 15 people involved in the incident, but Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh revealed Justin Herbert and the wife of Hall of Famer Dan Fouts, Jeri, were among the members of the stranded party.

“You get in those situations, and it’s a test of wills. I was proud of each of the guys and the two women that were on that elevator," Harbaugh said. "That’s a win. You feel good about yourself. You were challenged. It was a test of will, and you pull it down, or pull it in. It was a camaraderie amongst that group that is even stronger than it was before.”

Herbert emerged as the undisputed leader of the group while they were trapped in the elevator for hours.

“The remarkable things that came out of it was, to a guy, young rookie players, ‘Justin Herbert’s a leader. He was a rock. Kept everybody calm,’” Harbaugh told reporters. "Jeri Fouts told me the same thing, pulled me aside after they got out, just how great Justin was. And everybody kept their poise."

The quarterback even poked fun of the situation in an Instagram post.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Justin Herbert (@justinherbert)

“Justin Herbert, his hair was a little wet, but his shirt was completely dry,” Harbaugh said of the incident. “That was another thing that blew me away. The guy is just a beast."

The untimely incident in some ways was a bonding experience for the team, which is likely why players can look back on the situation and joke about it.

“That’s a shared experience that brought them closer together," Harbaugh said. "I just missed it, being on that elevator. It was like, ‘Wish I could have been there with those guys.’ But Justin Herbert was.”

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