Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh praised quarterback Justin Herbert and other players who were trapped in an elevator for two hours at the team hotel the night before a preseason game in Dallas.
Harbaugh mentioned that Herbert was among “11 or 12 of our players” in the elevator, along with Jeri Fouts, the wife of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Chargers TV analyst Dan Fouts.
Dallas Fire-Rescue helped all the people stuck in the elevator by lifting them through ceiling panels into another elevator Friday night. Before the rescue, a technician tried but failed to get the elevator working.
Fire officials reported that the elevator was stuck somewhere between the third and fifteenth floors at The Westin in downtown Dallas, about 15 miles from the Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington.
The Chargers won the preseason game 26-19 on Saturday. Herbert and the other starters for the Chargers did not play. LA will start the regular season on September 8 at home against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“You get in those situations, and it’s a test of wills,” Harbaugh said. “I was proud of each of the guys and the two women that were on that elevator. That’s a win. You feel good about yourself. You were challenged. It was a test of will, and you pull it down, or pull it in.”
Harbaugh mentioned that he almost ended up on the stuck elevator and saw everyone as they came out after being rescued.
“And it was hot,” Harbaugh said. “As each person came off the elevator, sweating and some had their shirts off. Justin Herbert, his hair was a little wet. But his shirt was completely dry. That was another thing that blew me away.”
