A 53-year old man died on Sunday night after a “medical event” during the Dolphins-Patriots game at Gillette Stadium.
Massachusetts State Police and a county district attorney’s office are investigating, via NBCNews.com.
Dale Mooney was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The investigation is happening as part of “normal protocol,” the prosecutor’s office said.
“The matter remains under active investigation,” the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said in a statement issued to NBCNews.com. “There are no charges in place at this time.”
Via NBC10 in Boston, witnesses say a fight preceded the medical event.
The story has gathered plenty of attention. It was covered on Tuesday’s edition of NBC Nightly News, as part of an item that took a broader look at fights throughout the NFL’s initial two weeks of the season. Given that everyone has a device at the ready to capture video and audio, it’s no surprise that fights are being documented and publicized.
The next step is to stop these fights. The Nightly News package ended with Tom Llamas telling Lester Holt that the league says its top priority is the safety of the more than one million fans who attend games every week, and that they “deplore the activities of a handful of people that go to these games to interfere with the enjoyment of others.”
First of all, anyone who has ever gone to an NFL games knows that it’s more than a handful of people who interfere with the enjoyment of others. Plenty — more than a handful — believe as if its their birthright to get drunk, loud, and at times physical. Even if it never leads to assault, the experience can easily be diminished by loudmouth fans who feel entitled to harass others verbally.
More importantly, the league is on notice that these things occur, regardless of whether it’s a handful or only one. People pay good money to go to those games. They’re what the law regards as invitees on the property of another. There’s a heightened responsibility to protect them, whether from slippery floors or sloppy-drunk fools who would do them harm.
The answer is more security. How much more security? Well, enough to keep someone from getting punched and killed would be a decent start.
