Sunday’s game between the New York Jets and Washington Commanders was painful to watch for many NFL fans, but it was literally painful for one of the photographers on hand to capture the action.
The Jets raced out to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter and were attempting to add another touchdown to that lead. New York quarterback Trevor Siemian launched a pass into the endzone that sailed over the head of tight end Tyler Conklin and knocked a press photographer right in the noggin.
Camera man took that hit like a pro 😅 pic.twitter.com/kyKD5eMnls
— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2023
Perfect pass to the cameraman’s head. pic.twitter.com/3bS0oBPiIC
— Mark B In SD (@MomsOopsBaby) December 24, 2023
The Jets ended up settling for a field goal to extend their lead to 20-0 and we got a look at the photographer, who seemed to be okay thankfully.
There’s gotta be an assumption when you work as an NFL photographer that, sooner or later, you’re gonna get bonked by an errant pass, especially when you’re shooting behind the endzone. Credit to him for sticking with the shot and hopefully he ended up with a very cool shot for his troubles.
The above shot by USA Today’s Robert Deutsch, who seems to have been directly next to the photographer who got hit, isn’t too shabby.
To be fair, we’ve seen photographers and camerapeople get it much worse than that while working on the sidelines, so a Trevor Siemian pass to the head isn’t the worst thing that could happen.
For what it’s worth, the Jets blew their massive lead and the Commanders almost lost the game. One might wonder if this is some karmic vengeance for hitting the photographer, but then again, this is the Jets were talking about. This is just par for the course.
