Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was one of “11 or 12” players who became trapped in a malfunctioning elevator at the team hotel in Dallas on Friday night.
Coach Jim Harbaugh said players and several members of the team’s traveling party, including Hall of Famer Dan Fouts’ wife, Jeri, were in the elevator without air conditioning for two hours after Dallas Firefighters evacuated them “one by one” through a ceiling panel into an adjacent elevator.
“We averted close calls,” Harbaugh said. “I always think averting close calls in football is averting injuries. You’ve got to be good at that. You’ve got to be good at making yourself hard to beat.”
“It was a shared experience that brought them closer together. I just missed being in that elevator. I thought, ‘I wish I could have been there with those guys.’ But Justin Herbert was there.”
Harbaugh said everyone who came off the elevator was sweating except for Herbert, and some of the players had their shirts off.
“Justin Herbert’s hair was a little wet, but his shirt was completely dry,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what surprised me, too. He’s just a beast.”
Herbert was operating an elevator that became trapped in a “blind shaft” between the third and 15th floors of the Westin Hotel in downtown Dallas.
“What stood out to me about the game was our young rookies said, ‘Justin Herbert is a leader. He’s someone you can rely on. He kept everybody calm,'” Harbaugh said. “Jeri Fouts said the same thing to me, and he pulled me aside after they left the game and told me how great Justin was. And everybody kept their cool.”
“When you find yourself in that situation, it tests your willpower. I’m so proud of those guys and the two girls in that elevator. It’s a victory. It makes you feel good about yourself. You accepted the challenge. It tests your willpower and you either overcome it or you pull towards it. The camaraderie within that group is even stronger than it was before.”
Harbaugh even used a family motto to explain the situation: “Who’s more blessed than those guys in that elevator?”
After everyone in the elevator was rescued, Harbaugh hosted members of Dallas Fire Rescue’s Urban Search and Rescue Team for a team meal at the hotel.
“To the Dallas Fire Department, a deep bow,” Harbaugh said. “Without the Dallas Fire Department, this could have been a lot worse. It could have taken a lot longer. Who knows how it could have ended.”
