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NFLPA investigating Cincinnati Bengals RB Chase Brown fan incident

  • Ben Baby, ESPN staff writerSeptember 30, 2024, 8:06 p.m. ET

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      Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Before ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News, where he covered college sports. He covers the Bengals daily for ESPN.com while also appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. He is a native of Grapevine, Texas and holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of North Texas. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

CINCINNATI – The NFL Players Association is investigating an incident between a fan and Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown after Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers.

As Cincinnati players left the field at Bank of America Stadium in Carolina, it appeared someone in the stands poured a drink on Brown at the end of the Bengals' 34-24 victory over the Panthers.

After a video was posted on social media, the incident was forwarded to NFLPA and league officials, according to Michael Thomas, player director for the players' association.

“We'll see if we can identify the person and then we'll go from there,” Thomas told ESPN on Monday. “But that should never happen to a player.”

Bengals center Ted Karras, the team's top player representative with the NFLPA, said the video is being reviewed to gather more information about the incident. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN that the league is investigating the matter.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Brown said that after Cincinnati's first win of the season, he threw his gloves to one of the fans who were above the entrance to the visitors' tunnel.

The second-year player had his first NFL rushing touchdown in the win over the Panthers and added a second later in the game, marking the first multi-touchdown day of his career.

Brown said he was looking forward to celebrating the team's first win before the locker room incident.

“I came in [and] I felt the fluid or whatever, and then when I saw the video I was like, 'Damn, that really happened,'” Brown said.

Karras recalled a DUI incident in 2017 when he was a member of the New England Patriots. Offensive lineman David Andrews had a drink thrown at him that was believed to be intended for quarterback Tom Brady.

Fans found responsible for unruly behavior at NFL games could face punishment, including a possible lifetime ban.

“That was ridiculous,” Karras told ESPN on Monday about what happened to Brown in Carolina. “We can’t have that. This is a danger to the players.”

Brown said he didn't care enough to confront the fan in that situation at the time. However, he doesn't want something similar to happen in the future.

“Please don’t pour drinks on us,” Brown said. “I mean, no one wants that.”

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