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Saints player hit with beer thrown by Vikings fan: 'I don't even drink'

Jason Owens
Staff writer

P.J. Williams broke open Sunday’s New Orleans Saints win over the Minnesota Vikings when he returned an interception of Kirk Cousins for a touchdown.

The play was a breaking point for one beer-swilling fan at U.S. Bank Stadium who dispatched his or her beverage into the end zone at Saints players as they were celebrating the score.

Chris Banjo makes best of beer toss

Saints safety Chris Banjo tweeted video of himself celebrating with the empty beer vessel on Monday.

“I was trying to get an endorsement,” Banjo told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I started running with the can. I don’t even drink.”

Banjo had fun with the situation that marked the second incident in three weeks of an opposing fan taking frustrations of the game out by throwing beer from the stands.

Saints players celebrating a touchdown against the Vikings Sunday got pelted with a beer can from the stands. (AP)
Saints players celebrating a touchdown against the Vikings Sunday got pelted with a beer can from the stands. (AP)

Another beer-throwing fan

A New England Patriots fan threw beer into the face of Kansas City Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill after he scored a touchdown during their Oct. 14 matchup. Hill did not take the incident lightly and urged authorities to take legal action against the fan who threw beer directly into his face.

Police identified and charged the fan with disorderly conduct, and the fan was permanently banned from Gillette Stadium.

Sunday’s incident was different in that the beer can came flying in from the stands, where Hill had an up close and personal encounter with the Patriots fan.

Vikings looking to identify culprit

While Banjo made light of the incident, the Vikings did not. The team has not identified who threw the beer, but released a statement Monday that security and law enforcement are taking the situation seriously and looking for the responsible party.

“Safety for all players, coaches, officials, staff and fans is a priority during Vikings games at U.S. Bank Stadium,” the statement read. “The incident last night is a clear violation of our fan code of conduct. While stadium security responded immediately upon being notified of the situation, they were unable to determine at that time who was responsible. We are currently working with WESS Security and local law enforcement in an effort to identify the individual and hold him/her accountable for these unacceptable actions.”

Saints safety Kurt Coleman wasn’t laughing at the beer toss either.

“It’s not acceptable,” Coleman told The Times-Picayune. “They were mad we were celebrating, I don’t know.”

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