A young Kansas City Chiefs fan nearly tumbled onto the field on Sunday if not for the protective arms of reserve defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton.

Following Kansas City’s narrow 30-27 win over the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, Chiefs players walked toward the tunnel to exit the field while fans shouted their way. One young, blonde fan in a #32 Nick Bolton jersey scampered down directly behind the banister. As Wharton took off his gloves, the boy reached out to catch Wharton’s attention.

He seemingly got his feet caught in a wire in the stands and went careening out of the stands face first. An alert Wharton swiftly responded and caught the young fan before he could get hurt.

“Oh ****, oh ****,” one fan shouted in the background. Another seemed unbothered by the tumble and remained steadfast in their pursuit of either player memorability or an autograph, chanting “Kelce, Kelce.”

Ultimately, all background noise was drowned out by a security guard who bellowed “Back to your seats, back to your seats, everybody go back to your seats, this kid just fell.” Wharton helped the young fan back up into the stands by the time the security officer turned around.

The 26-year-old lineman went undrafted out of Missouri S&T in 2020 before latching on with the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

Wharton was unable to play a big part of the Chiefs defensive line rotation for the team’s Super Bowl LVII after he tore his ACL midway through the 2022 campaign. However, he recorded a key sack of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson in last season’s AFC Championship as Kansas City repeated as Super Bowl champions.

This season, Wharton has recorded 19 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, and one forced fumble in 11 games. He logged two tackles and one hit of quarterback Bryce Young in Sunday’s win.

Young pioneered a late game-tying drive to level the score at 27 before Patrick Mahomes ushered a key drive of his own. The Chiefs would prevail on a walk-off 31-yard field goal.

“You always want to have some blowouts and be a little calmer in the fourth quarter,” the former MVP quarterback said.

“[At the same time] I’ve always said it could be a good thing when you get to the playoffs later in the season knowing that you have been in those moments before, and knowing how to attack it play by play not making it too big of a moment.”