The Metrodome Roof Collapse: The Inside Story of One of the Most Bizarre Events in NFL History

that day we were prepping for a vikings game so i had the ground crew guys move dumpsters into the all four corners of the building to collect water that was uh running off the road so around four i grabbed a forklift and started dumping these containers out i got to the last one and then i heard a slide on the opposite side of the roof that was followed by an immense explosion and all i could see was black sky and i was on that forklift and i was just in a hurry to get out of there she may not be on any fantasy teams but mother nature is already proving to be a major player in week 14. rain and snow wreaking havoc across the midwest for the first time this year guys we have weather issues knew there was potentially snow but even if they said that it was going to be blizzard-like conditions that's almost the norm up here during that time of year when the storm hit on friday and saturday it was really bad i mean obviously in minnesota we're used to winter storms we're used to a lot of snow and cold and wind but this was next level this was dialed up cars on the side of the road i mean it was just it was just kind of chaos so yeah it was a legitimate storm but never did you think that the game would be canceled because of a blizzard i mean you're in a dome right so weather's never even in the forecast of the game plan i don't think the weather forecast did justice i think we got 17 inches of snow over a 48-hour period heavy snow and ice all day saturday prompted the minneapolis airport to shut down for a long portion of the day and that weather is affecting the giants who were scheduled to land in minnesota but had to instead be diverted to kansas city the team was forced to spend the night in kc won't be able to fly to minnesota until sunday morning the nfl announced saturday night that they are still monitoring the situation the weather on saturday affected our attempt to just get to the stadium i never arrived in my own car i had to abandon it on a city street our truck driver came in his vehicle picked me up and got me to the stadium we spent the night downtown minneapolis instead of going home we didn't feel like we would be able to get home and get back in time for the for the game the next morning the stadium commission had a system for getting the snow off the roof and we went into what what's called snow mode and that's we heat the building up and then divert the warm air between the fabrics of the building to melt snow as it comes down we make the roof more taut or increase the pressure in the building and that's about all we can do initially we removed snow with fire hoses up there and because travel was so difficult we did not have the people we wanted in the in the building to go up top after a period of time what happened is the center portion of the roof actually got pushed down which rendered our fire hoses useless because we couldn't rinse it off the roof so we pulled everybody from the roof because we were unable to remove snow anymore [Music] there was definitely an eerie feeling inside the dome there had been a ton of snow with more on the way and the crew inside the building noticed a leak in the roof and that sets off alarm bells for all of us the roof was not the same as it always was it just it was moving the maintenance guys at the metrodome were saying they were very concerned about it so we had an idea that something bad could happen so we we decided to run a time lapse video which is a tried and true technique of our business and we just let that thing roll all night and we didn't know what to expect even if it's just a leak it's still a story with a game being played the next day so i literally got a call at like 5 30 in the morning from lawrence times uh we played together in kansas city and he called me say hey jay what's up you know i was like i thought he was messing with me so i was kind of giving him a hard time he's like bro we're in kansas city your guys's dome just collapsed and i was like what and so i get waking up flipping on the news this is the up to the minute information we have on what's going on in minnesota the fiberglass roof at the metrodome has collapsed that looks like the metro bowl right there officials from the dome the teams in the nfl are scheduled to be on the phone as we speak so obviously this is still a developing story and we will update you as soon as we know anything more seeing the video and seeing the real-life footage it was pretty shocking and just to see the cart down the field and the guy that's kind of scrambling out of the way and and just not knowing what structure or speakers and things are falling that are heavy they could really do some damage it sounded like a bomb going off because we had so much tension on the roof trying to hold the roof up itself it just literally exploded as i took off on that forklift i looked up at the field clock thinking that i'm going to die at just after 5 a.m in the morning it was very surreal very i got a call home that said the roof collapsed we were called into the office so we got together and had our first meeting on where do we go from here a group of four of us showed up to the metrodome at approximately 5 30 in the morning security allowed us to go in they said do not go in the bowl so the first thing we did was go look inside the bowl saw the huge rip in the in the roof hanging and suspended in the air we were assessing the damage i knew that we were not going to be able to play the new york giants in the metro dome after looking at the damage that had happened down there so we immediately got on a call with the nfl offices and tried to adjust and make a plan on making sure that we can still get that game in we realized we were in a crisis and we kicked into crisis management and started to to work toward a plan b my first thought was this game is going to happen somewhere but just not at the metrodome bill do we know if there's going to be football yet tomorrow night we don't and as as a matter of fact that is very much in jeopardy at this point it is very unclear whether or not the game that was scheduled for noon today which was postponed until seven o'clock on monday there's a lot of questions as to whether or not that game will be played now on monday i remember that week this storm coming in and you know brett favre was you know marred by injuries and going into that game in particular he had that ac sprained to the right shoulder his throwing shoulder favre what do you think he's thinking right now what can you give us inside his mindset right now well i know he's hurting still to see this all unveil and then mother nature just topple over the metrodome it was captivating and you know now all of a sudden the national football league is in crisis management mode there was a lot of collaboration not only working with the nfl but with all the departments everybody had to kind of work together just going through all the options that we had where we were going to play was number one and then how were we going to put this game on uh was second well the sudden change was very sudden and we prepared for for all scenarios whether it was outdoor warm weather outdoor cold weather outdoor wet weather so the giants and vikings and the league are all talking it over potential other sites according to greg aiello are domed stadiums elsewhere ford field would be closest in detroit to minnesota you also have lucas oil stadium in indianapolis monday night is still the target for the nfl the question is where will it be outdoors in minnesota or will it be indoors somewhere else nfl had a meeting via new york to figure out where are we going to play when i from my recollection i think it was more of a where could we play that they could broadcast the game it ended up being detroit because all the fox tv trucks were there it was already set up our game was supposed to be a fox game so that was the most natural and the easiest place from a tv production standpoint and not too far from where we're at here in minneapolis to get everything together to move the game over to detroit if we got a call at 5 30 that this was happening i think within three four hours that decision was made that the game is going to detroit the nfl the giants and the vikings have settled on detroit as the site for this game on monday night football with a 7 20 p.m kickoff time once the location was secured we you know kind of kicked into gear to move the move the game move the team and play the home game on the road at ford field you know trying to get those chargers trying to get you know hotels trying to get meetings trying to get the operations people in detroit on board to make sure they feel the facilities are ready now our equipment guys got to go and pack up all of our equipment so it was chaos at that point we just went into a mode of packing up the locker room getting every item from every player locker every coach's locker the training room the equipment room loaded onto our truck we had to go rent a second truck because all that gear was not going to fit on one truck and then it was just getting on the phone with delta headquarters to see where is an aircraft that could be moved in that quick or is there one already located in minneapolis to get us there you know in short notice you worry about what did we forget what did we leave behind we basically packed until they told us to head to the airport straight ahead on up to the minute two for one monday night football in detroit a game that will go down in nfl lore giants vikings and the greatest streak in football history brett favre 297 consecutive regular season starts a streak that goes back for 19 years farve is a game time decision with an injured shoulder well we were obviously our medical crew and our pr staff were monitoring farv situation we'd actually hoped that with a day's delay that perhaps that would give brett some extra time to to recover you know now i'm looking at information saying uh well this must be brett favre's way of getting another day or two [Laughter] i still remember the when the injury deactivation report came out i actually took a picture of it it is yet another twist yet another surreal twist to what has been a very surreal 48 hours involving both the minnesota vikings and the new york giants with the collapse of the metro dome roof with the giants having to stay in kansas city when a snow plow on the runway at minnesota kept them from landing there just so many bizarre things have gone into this but watching brett favre on the sideline and street clothes which we'll get a chance to see later today i presume will be the most bizarre thing of all undoubtedly what has been kind of a surreal weekend for these two teams let's go down to pam oliver well joe excitement in the air as fans get a unique opportunity to catch an nfl game i spoke to one fan who was among the thousands who waited out in the frigid temperatures to take advantage of this opportunity he drove him from kentucky actually when he heard the news meantime the vikings traveled their own field logo templates and the paint was still drying a few hours before the game and this is the scene at about 5 30 when fans were allowed in it was a mad dash for them to get to their seat on game day it was just a regular game day the players all came there was some joking about what was going on and what could happen next and and they all took it pretty much in stride brett favre just wanted some hot dogs when he got to the stadium he could have cared less about anything else and he got his hot dogs and he enjoyed them and tonight they turned to tavares jackson to start a quarterback i think it's an opportunity for tavares jackson to show what he can do calling fort field home for a game was was bizarre the way they handled the tickets the way they opened the gates and let everybody in i think was essentially a free game um for folks coming in and it was weird to look up in the stands you played the giants and to look up in the stands and not not have a home color there's no there was not detroit blue there was not viking purple there was not giant blue um it was just it was like black and gray and white and it was just kind of nobody really knew who to cheer for nobody really had a fan or a team in the race there were some vikings fans that had flown over and were a part of that but it was just really weird so clearly it's not going to be the same type of makeup we'd see at the metrodome but it's going to be very fascinating to see just what kind of home field advantage the vikings will have tonight obviously we're not the lion see it's just quiet on both ends it's a home game so you're kind of trying to you know feed off some energy to some crowd and some hype and you know it's not there i mean honestly it kind of felt the atmosphere kind of felt like the fourth preseason game and so it was just it was just a weird it was a weird dynamic and i think our team in the game and the result reacted sort of the way uh you think we would uh we didn't play well here's bradshaw breaking loose touchdown giants the difference really has been that the giants have run the ball well and the vikings have not you know we went from having a home game in homefield advantage into having you know an away game and basically a neutral site uh and the giants were playing a road game regardless so we did not react as well as you'd like and that's the ball game the new york giants defeat the minnesota vikings 21-3 this is minnesota vikings football when you get into crisis management situations like that you're so honed in and focused on resolving the issues figuring out the logistics uh getting a hotel getting planes how we're going to get all the equipment over there but when you have the people in the building that we have we were able to figure out all the logistics uh on getting to detroit and putting that game on yeah i mean i think i think your hacks goes off to just our operations in general when you look back on it it was amazing how fast we were able to accomplish it i wouldn't want to do that every week well we weren't going to play in the dome the rest of the year we kind of figured that out after the damage was assessed so i believe we played chicago on a monday night we had to play over at the university of minnesota in gopher stadium we had to get snow removal because the gopher season was over everything was shut down everything was winterized they were paying people to come in to shovel out the stands because of the depth of the snow so that was another logistical i wouldn't call it nightmare but problem to get that stadium up and running for that next week with our game against chicago for the first time in exactly 29 years the vikings play an outdoor home game and of course we had a major snowstorm to add to the moon here this afternoon monday night football minnesota style and then the following week we went to philly and like the rest of the the end of the season was going with snow philly got hit with a blizzard but next thing you know we didn't play until like tuesday because of snow and philly i mean it's just a hot mess welcome to philadelphia you know the story this is the first nfl game to be played on a tuesday since 1946. i think it was just one of those seasons where you're just shaking your head and you're like anything that could go wrong will go wrong right i think it was very apropos a very good metaphor for what that season was with an epic collapse but i'll say a resilient group the minnesota vikings are great ownership and i think it says a lot about an organization that can go through that crazy chaotic series of weeks and uh still come out in one piece here we go win on three when the roof collapsed aside from getting through our season it really underscored the need for a new facility in minnesota i think it was part of the process on putting in more money into an aged and outdated stadium or building a new stadium and you know we doubled down our efforts at the legislature and in the community to deliver u.s bank stadium [Music] in the end to end up as u.s bank stadium as our new home to me is is the nicest if not uh the best stadium not only in the nfl but across the country and i would stack it up against any of these stadiums around the world when they gave us a tour i was like this is ridiculous you know kids are spoiled these days but uh no it's a beautiful stadium the city deserves it honestly and it's such a great fan base not only uh the building itself and all the amenities that come in that building but when we do have fans in there in the incredible atmosphere that that creates and how u.s bank stadium has become such a great home field advantage for us has been nothing short of spectacular [Applause] touchdown unbelievable vikings win it are you kidding me it's a minneapolis you know for the locals there they had been clamoring for so many years for a new facility but there was always this nostalgia to the thunderdome seeing these vikings teams charge that field it was the energy is just electric and i gotta say even though it was a crazy year to be a part of that experience looking back now as a retired guy to say you played in this kind of chaotic crazy year and you were a part of that and just to put yourself in those memories is pretty cool the metro dome was cool man it was a sad day to play our last game there you know we came out we're able to get a win of the last time with the metronome i got so many great memories here it's gonna be sad to see it go there's there's traditions and there's there's just a feel of some of the old stadiums of you know the wars that have gone on in those buildings and uh when that dome was rocking i mean you can literally feel the vibrations of the noise off the field uh so many great memories for myself over the six years in that building it was just it was an amazing place to play you

Channel: Minnesota Vikings

Views: 4,839,421

Keywords: NFL, Vikings, Minnesota, MN, Football, Minnesota vikings, metrodome, metrodome roof, metrodome collapse, metrodome roof collapse, roof collapse, jared allen, chad greenway, football, snow, weather, crazy snow, crazy weather, rick spielman, vikings metrodome, dome collapse, vikings stadium colllapse, stadium collapse, 2010 metrodome, 2010 stadium collapse, 2010 metrodome collapse, 2010 dome collapse, vikings 2010 stadium, 10 year anniversary

Id: RJnQB1pG_YM

Length: 20min 37sec (1237 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 11 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/VariousLawyerings]

When the thumbnail tells the story

[u/jrose6717]

God that was 10 years ago...

[u/[deleted]]

i would not like the inside story. i would like the outside story so i dont get hurt

[u/BarkleyBeyond26]

Thank god this happened overnight and not during the game.

[u/BellacosePlayer]

You'd think the Vikings would be more used to dealing with late season collapses.

[u/nomorecowardlypunts]

20 minutes long but it’s well done, had my attention the entire way.

Only thing that was shitty was at the end when they said that this made it obvious a new stadium was needed so they doubled down to the legislature. Assholes, the taxpayers aren’t responsible for your shitty stadium, $1,000,000,000 is shitty to demand.

[u/[deleted]]

Why did they think a giant tarp for a roof would suffice in Minnesota of all places?

[u/dic-farts]

The love boat incident in a picture...smooot

[u/BiologyJ]

17” in 48 hours....lol lightweights