Bernie Beaudry never saw them coming.
The “them” here is the Minnesota Vikings, who stampeded onto U.S. Bank Field on Sunday just as Beaudry, an audio technician for FOX Sports, ran across the entrance tunnel. The result was a massive collision that sent Beaudry flying and quickly went viral.
Vikings Linval Joseph absolutely destroys Fox sound guy during pregame intros https://t.co/4C3Afhj3tU
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 20, 2016
After the game, The Pioneer Press’ Brian Murphy caught up with Beaudry, who broke his glasses and suffered a bloodied nose but otherwise was unharmed.
He's alive! FOX sound man Bernie Beaudry–broken glasses, bloody nose–did game after BRob, Linval steamroll#Vikings pic.twitter.com/qK4cmXcz5D
— Brian Murphy (@murphmedia_) November 20, 2016
“It was the stupidest thing (I’ve done) in 20 years doing this job,” Beaudry told The Pioneer Press. “I only saw the smoke. I didn’t see anybody coming, and then, boom!”
The 62-year-old Minnesota native said he realized he was out of position and scrambled to the Arizona Cardinals’ sideline, unaware that the Vikings players were exiting the tunnel. Beaudry apparently caught the Vikes off guard, too.
“I was really surprised somebody was there,” defensive tackle Linval Joseph, who laid the biggest hit on Beaudry, told The Pioneer Press. “I run out of the tunnel plenty of times and I’ve never seen anybody run across before. I’m glad he’s OK. Tell him I’m sorry.”
Things are looking up for Beaudry, though. Minnesota plans to present him with an autographed picture of the incident before its next home game against the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 1, and it appears he’s also in line for a new pair of glasses.
.@NFLonFOX @Vikings @Buck He’s an inspiration to everyone who was watching. We’d love to invite him in so we can replace his glasses.
— LensCrafters (@LensCrafters) November 21, 2016
The Vikings beat the Cardinals 30-24 to snap a four-game losing streak, so Sunday had a happy ending for both Beaudry and the team he was covering.
