A Philadelphia Eagles fan tragically passed away after falling from a light pole during the NFC Championship Game celebration on Sunday. He was just 18 years old.
Temple University mourned the loss of student athlete Tyler Sabapathy on Tuesday … saying he was a “promising” young man.
“There are no words that can make sense of it,” president John Fry wrote, “and the entire Temple community mourns his passing. Our hearts go out to Tyler’s family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved him.”
Sabapathy — an exercise and sport science major at Temple — slipped and fell after climbing a pole amid the celebration following the Eagles’ 55-23 win over the Washington Commanders … and hit his head on the sidewalk. He was hospitalized with a brain injury before passing away two days later.
As we previously reported, several arrests and citations were issued as a result of the postgame celebration. Other incidents included a car driving into a crowd of fans … and gunshots being fired.
Philly officials have greased the poles to prevent fans from climbing them in previous years … although it’s unclear if that measure was taken prior to Sunday’s celebration.
Sabapathy was a member of Temple’s club gymnastics team … and was beloved by his teammates, friends and coaches, the school added.
