Joe Buck, Fox ripped for handling of Donald Parham Jr. injury in Chiefs-Chargers

Chargers tight end Donald Parham Jr. was taken off the field on a stretcher early in the first quarter of Los Angeles’ game against Kansas City on Thursday after suffering what appeared to be a serious injury.

No details about Parham’s injury, which occurred when his head hit the turf, were immediately known. Regardless, Fox’s broadcast spent a significant amount of time both zooming in on Parham’s face in the aftermath of the injury and discussing the injury at length.

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Both decisions were met with derision on Twitter, but play-by-play announcer Joe Buck’s comments about the injury in particular created a firestorm. Parham’s arms were shaking when he was being stretchered off the field. Buck said he didn’t want to speculate why, then proceeded to do exactly that.

Buck made his comment flippantly and seemingly off the cuff, without a medical degree or authority of any kind on the topic. As a result, much of Twitter excoriated Buck for his misguided commentary.

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The Chargers later announced Parham was in stable condition at a local hospital and undergoing tests. As of the third quarter, Buck and Fox had yet to acknowledge or apologize for the long-time broadcaster’s poor choice of words.