It was Dec. 11, 2022, and Philadelphia Eagles third-year quarterback Jalen Hurts was building a campaign that would earn him MVP runner-up and his first Super Bowl nod.
In a Week 14 win against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium, Hurts found a coverage gap and darted for a 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. It made him the first quarterback to post back-to-back seasons with at least 10 rushing touchdowns. The Pro Football Hall of Fame later announced that Hurts’ jersey and pants worn in that game would be put on display.
🗣New to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
The jersey & pants that @JalenHurts wore in Week 14, when he ran for his 10th rushing TD of the season during @Eagles 48-22 win over NYG.
Hurts became the first QB in NFL history to rush for 10+ TDs in consecutive seasons.
📹: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/iEcFWaidH8
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) April 5, 2023
The broadcast showed Hurts running through the end zone and handing the ball to an Eagles fan in the first row. Paul Hamilton, the fan at the receiving end of that celebration, won’t forget that moment. But it’s not because he shook hands with the star player of his favorite team. Instead, it marked the beginning of the end of his Eagles and NFL fandom.
One year later, Hamilton filed a lawsuit against the NFL, MetLife Stadium, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and New Jersey State Police, claiming false arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery, abuse of process and negligence. The NFL and Eagles were dismissed as defendants earlier this year, but the lawsuit remains unresolved against the other parties and is expected to extend into 2026.
Hamilton’s lawsuit says he was approached by stadium employees after Hurts handed him the ball, and “they misrepresented and lied to Mr. Hamilton claiming the football was not his property, and that he was violating law if he kept it and demanded that the football be returned.”
The lawsuit claims that an alternative gift was offered, but Hamilton did not want to give up the game ball. When he tried to leave, the lawsuit says Hamilton “was then thrown into a gate and forcibly held against it.” The lawsuit also claims that approximately 10 New Jersey State Police officers swarmed Hamilton and threatened arrest if he didn’t turn the ball over. Hamilton eventually exited with the ball and still has it in his possession.
As a result of the incident, the lawsuit says Hamilton suffered severe emotional distress and sought help from a psychotherapist.
“It was tragic,” Hamilton told The Athletic in a phone interview last month. “The world of sports creates a family aspect to it, and when something like this happens, it’s like someone you thought you could trust turns their back on you. That’s what it felt like.”
Jalen Hurts handed the football he used to score a touchdown to Paul Hamilton, who was then an Eagles fan, at a 2022 game. (Screenshot from Fox broadcast)
The NFL, MetLife Stadium and New York Giants declined to comment on Hamilton’s case, citing pending litigation.
Hamilton, now 34, hasn’t been back to an NFL game since the incident, nor does he plan to. He says he is “absolutely not” an Eagles fan anymore, nor a fan of the NFL.
“It’s any sports fan’s all-time high, followed by an all-time low. It’s emotionally very hard to comprehend how that feeling started and how that feeling ended,” Hamilton said. “I still struggle with it every day; it’s not like it’s gone away. It’s 2025, and it still feels like it was yesterday that they destroyed something for me.
“I hope that after my lawsuit, maybe they’re a little more accountable for how they treat fans after they’re given game balls.”
NFL game balls going into the crowd aren’t as common as in baseball, where home run balls and foul balls regularly make their way into the stands. But still, it happens, whether on an errant throw or in celebration by a player. And, per the NFL, no policy requires a game ball to be returned.
Earlier this season, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes sent a pass into the first row against the Las Vegas Raiders. The fan who caught it was shown on the broadcast switching out the game-used ball with an employee on the field. CBS color analyst Tony Romo said it was a result of the NFL wanting game balls back because of the data chips inside them, which track Next Gen Stats like speed, acceleration and distance.
However, an NFL spokesperson clarified that data chips are not necessarily the reason for the return, and that, in fact, no return is actually required per league policy, though many teams prefer to retrieve balls that inadvertently enter the stands. Teams have a limited number of game balls (12 primary, 12 backup and three kicking balls), so they may try to retrieve balls in the stands to keep their full rotation, particularly for the specialty K-balls. Clubs might also try to retrieve record-setting balls to mark a milestone or accomplishment.
To keep game balls on the field, the NFL can fine players for tossing balls into the stands under its sportsmanship policy. For the 2025 season, the first offense is $8,114 and the second is $13,911.
However, those penalties are scarce.
Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook was fined for throwing a ball into the stands in 2022 after scoring a touchdown in a Week 6 win against the Miami Dolphins. His fine was reduced from $7,429 to $5,941 contingent on his completing an online remedial training course and not getting fined again that season. Cook poked fun at the situation on X, writing, “4 will not throw (football emoji) into stands after touchdown,” over and over again.
“4️⃣ will not throw 🏈 in the stands after touchdown”
“4️⃣ will not throw 🏈 in the stands after touchdown”
“4️⃣ will not throw 🏈 in the stands after touchdown”
“4️⃣ will not throw 🏈 in the stands after touchdown”
— Dalvin “4️⃣” Cook (@dalvincook) October 25, 2022
Hurts was not fined for handing the ball to Hamilton a few weeks later and, according to Spotrac’s tracking of all NFL fines, no player has been fined for throwing a ball into the stands since Cook in 2022. (The Houston Texans’ Nico Collins told reporters in December 2024 that he was fined for throwing a ball to a kid in the stands in his team’s Week 12 game, though Collins did not appear on the NFL’s list of fines for that week.)
In December 2024, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown — who was fined twice in 2021 while with the Tennessee Titans for throwing a football into the stands — celebrated a touchdown by tossing the ball to a fan. Soon after, Brown realized it was third-string quarterback Tanner McKee’s first career touchdown pass, so he exchanged his game-worn jersey on the spot for the fan to throw the ball back. (He was not fined for the 2024 incident.)
A.J. Brown exchanged his game-worn jersey for the ball used for Tanner McKee’s first NFL touchdown pass. (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
In terms of retrieving footballs, the NFL seems to distinguish between those intentionally thrown into the stands and those that inadvertently end up there.
In October this year, Buffalo Bills fan Brian Kemp caught a wild pass by Josh Allen that ended up in the stands. Kemp, wearing a Matt Milano jersey, turned around and ran up the stairs with the ball, which NBC play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico had some fun narrating.
“Milano’s gonna go! He’s in row 10. He’s in row 15. He might get a beer!”
“There was some heat on that ball,” Kemp told Buffalo’s WIVB-TV after. “With a couple of cowbells in my hand, I was able to grab it, bring it in, and I looked at my wife and I said, ‘I’ll meet you at the car.’”
Kemp told the news channel it wasn’t the first time he ended up in possession of a game-used ball, but each time he was “forced to give them back.” Despite his runaway efforts this time around, Kemp said he ended up going back to his seat and “happily returned the ball” to stadium staff.
“They did give me another ball in exchange, so this ball, unfortunately, is not the actual ball that Allen threw that I caught,” Kemp said. “However, all is right with the world. No theft occurred; there was no stolen property.”
The Bills fan in the Matt Milano jersey had his moment 😂
NEvsBUF on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/50853nwya1— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2025
A representative from the Bills said balls are retrieved by the guest experience team at Highmark Stadium and exchanged with an alternative football. The representative added that many times, fans throw the ball back on the field voluntarily. A representative for the Indianapolis Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium similarly said fans are required to return footballs that inadvertently land in the stands, and security will assist if necessary. Inquiries to 10 other NFL stadium operations managers on their policy for balls that fly into the stands either weren’t returned or declined to comment.
Game-used memorabilia is some of the most valuable in the sports collectibles market. A Super Bowl LVII game-used ball sold for $16,666 on the online marketplace Goldin. A 2022 Los Angeles Rams game-used ball sold for $437 on the same website, even though the reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams finished a disappointing 5-12 that season.
It’s fair to estimate that the value of Hamilton’s game ball (a record-breaker for Hurts in a 14-3 season) would be significant. When speaking generally about the league’s ball retrieval practices, a league spokesperson said a ball tossed into the crowd after a player scores a touchdown is not typically one that teams would seek to have returned.
In October, an order to extend the discovery period in Hamilton’s case was granted, marking a new deadline of April 2026. Hamilton’s lawyer, Adam Thompson, said he hopes to gather all evidence, including police body cam and stadium surveillance footage as soon as possible, setting the table for party depositions to begin early next year.
“Professional sports owners, leagues, and teams must learn to respect their fans and treat them better,” Thompson said in an email. “Prices for tickets, food, parking, and merchandise are at all-time highs. When a fan comes to attend a game, all this should be considered and everything should be done to make the experience the best possible. Unfortunately, it isn’t. Fans are treated poorly. This case is making a statement that fans deserve better.”
