There’s more footage of the so-called Phillies Karen on the internet than you’re likely to find of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s fan-shoving incident from Sunday night in Orchard Park, N.Y. And that’s just as well, because it shouldn’t take a review of everybody’s cellphone movie-making talents to arrive at an obvious conclusion: NFL players can’t be making physical contact with fans.
And yet here we are. Even before it was announced Monday that the fan involved in the incident has been “indefinitely banned” from NFL stadiums, the social media world was overflowing with practitioners of country justice who believe Jackson’s two-handed shove was justified. The fan “got what was coming to him,” goes the refrain, and I suppose there’s a bit of truth to that, so long as one makes sure to throw out the context.
Here’s the without-context part: Some young guy at Highmark Stadium slapped a guy in the head Sunday night, and then he slapped the guy’s buddy in the head. The second guy responded by giving the young guy a good shove. Country justice.
Here it is again, but with context: In the third quarter of the 2025 “Sunday Night Football” opener at Highmark Stadium, Ravens versus Buffalo Bills, Jackson threw a 29-yard pass that veteran DeAndre Hopkins hauled in for a jaw-dropping, one-handed touchdown reception. Hopkins is 33, a veteran of 13 NFL seasons who, it’s been said, is far removed from his glory days with the Houston Texans. Yet there he was Sunday night, making this incredible turn-back-the-clock catch.
VINTAGE DEANDRE HOPKINS.
BALvsBUF on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/eUbJcNCxkr— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2025
Hopkins and Jackson wound up running along the back wall of the end zone during their celebration, and that’s when the young fan in the red shirt, standing in the front row, slapped Hopkins on the side of the helmet and then slapped Jackson on the side of his helmet. I’d term the Hopkins slap as “light,” and the Jackson slap “a little harder,” if that helps. It appears Hopkins didn’t feel the slap, or maybe ignored it. It appears Jackson did feel the slap, and he certainly didn’t ignore it.
“I forgot where I was a little bit,” Jackson said during a postgame media session, this after the Bills rallied from a 15-point, fourth-quarter deficit to claim a 41-40 victory over the stunned Ravens. “You have to think in those situations. You have security out there, let security handle it, but I just let my emotions get the best of me. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen. I learned from that.”
A Bills fan shoved DeAndre Hopkins’ and Lamar Jackson’s helmet after a touchdown.
Jackson responded by shoving the fan back.
🎥 @SNFonNBC | H/T @Someone20241575 pic.twitter.com/bo1qjN9Hr7
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 8, 2025
The fan was ejected from the stadium. And then came the indefinite suspension. That means one fewer whacky Bills fan in the Highmark Stadium parking lots this season, though I guess that’s unfair to whacky Bills fans. It’s OK to fall backward off the top of campers onto folding tables, albeit dangerous, but it’s not OK to reach out of the stands and slap opposing players, or any players, on the helmet. The kid who did that does not represent Bills Mafia.
As for Jackson, he’s expressed regret. And if the NFL wants to come down on him with a bookkeeping, box-checking fine, well, sure. Whatever. But this incident should be less about the NFL punishing its players than educating its players, and what happened Sunday night provides the perfect show-and-tell exhibit.
The incident came and went in mere seconds. No other fights broke out. No players went into the stands. Put another way, this was not a repeat of the infamous “Malice at the Palace,” an ugly NBA brawl that took place Nov. 19, 2004, when players and fans went at it after the Indiana Pacers’ Ron Artest went into the stands in response to something being thrown at him. Nor was it a repeat of what happened Dec. 23, 1979, when Boston Bruins players went into the stands at Madison Square Garden. This one was highlighted by the Bruins’ Mike Milbury striking a fan with his own shoe.
But the issue here isn’t what didn’t happen Sunday night in Orchard Park, but what could have happened. Remember, we’re talking about an NFL player reaching out with two open palms and shoving the fan. I’ll add that Jackson is listed at 6 feet 2, 205 pounds, and that these players work out a lot. You don’t want to receive a two-handed shove in the chest by any NFL player, whether it’s 6-foot-8, 370-pound Ravens tackle Daniel Faalele or the Ravens’ rookie kicker, 5-foot-11, 191-pound Tyler Loop. Or anybody in between, which is where Jackson fits in this discussion.
Like all professional sports leagues, the NFL issues plenty of in-game messages highlighting the importance of fan behavior. But there’s lots of beer involved, and, now, lots of gambling. That’s not a knock on fans. That’s 2025. But whatever happens, and whoever is at fault, players can’t retaliate. The stakes are too high.
Never mind the lawsuits. One good two-handed shove delivered by an NFL player to the chest of a civilian could lead to something so much more serious.
Fining Jackson isn’t necessary. But it would do a world of good if the NFL could show a clip of that shove at the beginning of every training camp. It could help. And anyway, watching that catch by Hopkins will never get old.
(Photo: Bryan Bennett / Getty Images)
