The Sunday Night Football contest between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins was marred by the death of a hometown fan who got into an altercation with a Dolphins fan.
Patriots Season ticket holder Dale Mooney, 53, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, was “beaten to death” at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, according to witnesses.
The father of two was reportedly involved in a scuffle and took a blow to his face that resulted in him being rendered unconscious — he would never regain consciousness.
His wife, Lisa Mooney, told WCVB that her husband was at the game with three friends who told her they were being verbally taunted by other fans.
Horrible tragedy:
Patriots 30 year season ticket holder Dale Mooney was punched in the face by a Dolphins fan Sunday night.
Dale fell and hit his head on the ground, never regaining consciousness.
Dale was at the game with his son.
Nightmare scenario, horrible news.… pic.twitter.com/1NWvHubFFf
— Savage (@SavageSports_) September 19, 2023
Joseph Kilmartin witnessed the violent confrontation that took place toward the end of the fourth quarter, and he recorded Mooney as he approached the other group.
“He basically grabbed another fan,” Kilmartin shared. “They started tussling around for a few minutes. At one point, another fan walked over. He punched him three times and the man just went out. It was pretty hard to watch.”
“It was really one punch that I saw and the victim got punched really hard on the side of the head, and went down. He’s a bigger guy but he just crumbled,” another witness told NBC 10 Boston.
Security can be seen in video footage rushing down to break up the fight, and paramedics are later seen attending to Mooney.
“First responders got there and they instantly start doing compressions, they had to lay him out in the aisle between the seats. They were doing compressions by my estimation for easily 10 minutes,” the witness added. “It was pretty heartbreaking and the game was still going on so the general public clearly knew what was going on in our section so the game was going on, people are cheering for the Patriots comeback, and this poor guy has passed away before our eyes. It was pretty brutal to watch.”
Lisa Mooney said she felt ‘numb’ after hearing the horrific news about her husband and father-of-two, who has been a dedicated Patriots season ticket holder for three decades.
“I can’t even believe this is for real,” she told WCVB. “I don’t understand why people have to go to that extreme. Why can’t it just be fun? That’s all it’s supposed to be, just a fun family event.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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