Peyton Manning might have won his first regular season game as Broncos quarterback, but all was not well at Sports Authority Field on Sunday night.
The problem actually started somewhere above Sports Authority Field, actually. That’s where pigeons were congregating and using the fans sitting below them as target practice. Their ammunition? Feces.
Two of the fans pelted by pigeon droppings spoke to the Coloradoan about their unpleasant experience in the stands on Sunday night. They said that several people sitting in their section were hit and that workers at the stadium told them that it has been an ongoing problem.
“There’s actually a plastic owl,” Jeff Harden, one of the affected fans, said. “I’m sure they set that up there at one point to deter the pigeons. It’s obviously not working. It’s a health issue. There’s people with drinks. There’s open food containers.”
The company responsible for stadium maintainence, Stadium Management Company, released a statement to the paper.
“We strive to ensure that all fans have a positive experience during Broncos games, and their safety and comfort is our No. 1 priority. Unfortunately, outdoor stadiums do sometimes have issues with birds.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about unpleasant run-ins with flying animals at football games this season. Fans at a Ravens preseason game had a run in with a bat, sparking a brief fear that they may have been exposed to rabies. No one wound up being infected and there haven’t been any reports of vampires running amok in Charm City, however.
The silver lining for Broncos fans? Getting pooped on by pigeons is far better than if it were the Raiders.
