Cowboys narrowly avoid tragedy as AT&T Stadium roof collapses onto field before Texans matchup

The Dallas Cowboys’ stadium collapsed as dramatically as the team’s season on Monday Night Football. 

Hours before the Cowboys kicked off against the Houston Texans Monday night, debris from AT&T Stadium’s roof fell onto the field in scary scenes. 

The Cowboys opened the retractable roof for the first time since 2021 but were swiftly forced to perform a U-turn on the plan when a ‘large piece of metal’ fell as it was being opened.

‘Bits of debris started falling from the sky. They were opening the roof here and you could see big chunks of what looked like dust, paper, plastic and then all of a sudden a big piece of metal floated down and fell onto the field,’ Lisa Salters reported on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. 

Fortunately, the franchise avoided any injuries during the incident with the team confirming the situation in a statement. 

‘We can confirm a piece of metal came loose and fell to the field (with some additional small debris) while the roof was in the process of opening. There were no injuries. It is being reviewed further, and a decision regarding the ability to re-open the roof safely will be made when possible,’ the Cowboys said in a statement. 

At the roof was being opened, debris fell down onto the field hours before Monday’s game 

The franchise later took the decision to close the roof amid safety concerns but sheets of metal were reportedly still hanging from the rafters, according to Noah Bullard.  

The incident reportedly occurred around three hours before the all-Texas showdown is slated to start at 8:15pm ET. 

It isn’t the first time that the infrastructure of AT&T Stadium, which hosted the fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson on Friday, has come into question this season. 

The home of the Cowboys has been infamous for ‘Curtain-gate’, a none-football-related issue where the sun beams through a window in the stadium and affects players’ vision on one end zone. 

And the glaring issue came to light once again during the Cowboys’ 6-34 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on November 10. 

Dallas quarterback Cooper Rush saw receiver CeeDee Lamb in the end zone and threw what would have been a touchdown pass. However, due to the glare, Lamb failed to see his teammate or the ball and ran past the pigskin as it hit the turf. 

It isn’t the first time the infrastructure has been questioned after ‘Curtain-gate’ this season

After the game, Lamb told reporters he was ‘one thousand percent’ in favor of raising the curtains at AT&T to avoid the issue.

However, team owner Jerry Jones brushed off notions of adding to his $1.2billion investment.

‘Well, let’s just tear the damn stadium down and build another one? You kidding me?’ Jones quipped, claiming curtain-gate was advantageous for Dallas.

‘Every team that comes in here has the same issues, they know where the sun’s going to be,’ Jones added. ‘We do know where the damn sun’s going to be at our own stadium.’