ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WIVB) — The NFL is investigating whether one of the Miami Dolphins players spit on a Buffalo Bills fan while leaving the stadium after Sunday’s game.
Dylan Wentland claims Miami Dolphins Safety Bobby McCain spit on him as the player was exiting through the tunnel at New Era Field.
According to the Erie County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Scott Zylka, McCain got in a verbal confrontation with a 13-year-old fan earlier in the day. Wentland told News 4 that during the altercation he told McCain to be a better role model.
After the game was over, witnesses say McCain came back to the section and spit on Wentland.
“I’ve never seen anything like that happen at a game,” Wentland said. “It was so outrageous; no one could believe it happened.”
In a video sent to News 4 by Bob Reynolds, McCain is seen threatening to spit at the crowd as he walked by after warm-ups before the game had started:
Zylka says they’ve been working with the Bills throughout the day to investigate this incident, and while no deputy saw what happened they are reviewing security footage.
Although verbal incidents between players and fans are common, Zylka says something to this extent is rare.
“Professional athletes are pretty good at understanding if they’re in the opposing stadium they’re going to get a little rough treatment going on. Usually, it’s just verbal and they understand it and move on but for a physical interaction to occur it’s rare not only at the Bills stadium but throughout the NFL. So we have to look at this, we have to take it seriously,” Zylka said.
The Miami Dolphins organization has announced McCain will be disciplined for his “verbal confrontation,” but it’s unclear what kind of punishment he’ll face. McCain said he wishes that he handled the situation better.
“I regret the incident that happened with me and the fan yesterday after the game,” McCain told reporters Monday. “I wish I could have handled myself a little better. I spoke with Coach Flores today and we’re on the same page.”
In a news conference, Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores said he spoke one-on-one with McCain about the incident.
“I talked to Bobby about that this morning – he and I have a pretty open dialogue,” Flores said. “I heard his side of the story, it’s unfortunate. I feel like he needed to handle that situation better. We’re going to discipline Bobby for that – we’ll handle that discipline internally.
The Bills have declined to comment on this incident.
