The Sunday Night Football game between the Houston Texans and Chicago Bears saw an unfortunate moment early in the third quarter. As Houston was moving the ball down the field for a potential first down, a member of the chain gang went down and hit his head hard. The play was on a short run to the sideline by Joe Mixon of the Texans. He was pushed out of bounds on the play by Tyrique Stevenson.

It appears the gentleman was backing up from the potential action and tripped, slamming his head. The game went to a timeout, and as it returned on NBC, the focus went to the member of the chain gang, as they took him off the sideline to get evaluated.

Earlier in the day, the Baltimore Ravens and the Las Vegas Raiders had their action halted as a member of the chain gang collapsed on the sideline. At the 2:36 mark of the first half, videos on social media showed the scary scene. He was later seen receiving CPR from the medical staff.

The situation was scary for all involved, including the players, who were taking a knee during the halt in the action.

Following the game, the Ravens made a statement about the incident.

“A member of the chain gang crew collapsed,” the team said. “He was immediately attended to by medical personnel. Upon leaving the field, he was alert and responsive. He’s being taken to a local hospital.”

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was asked about the incident after the game and had this to say:

“I’m just grateful that he was revived.”

Fortunately, later Sunday evening, the Baltimore Sun reported that the chain gang member was “in good condition.”

The obvious elephant in the room in these two incidents on the same day remains – in the technology era of 2024 – does the National Football League really need humans on the sideline to determine 10 yards?

@duval_ilPadrino pointed this out on X, formerly Twitter.

An age requirement may be a good start for a league that is young and extremely big, fast and strong, suggested @KCBrett58.

Michael agrees with what most football fans are saying. (@petemadness):

Fans attending the games and spending money on the league demand an improvement in the system and call for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to make an effort to make improvements.