helmet

As he was being escorted to the locker room by teammate Will Anderson Jr., a fan threw a water bottle that hit Anderson in the helmet.

After the clinching interception, James made sure no one could forget the performance as he unbuckled his helmet, leaned in close to the cameras in the end zone and flashed a bedazzled smile.

He was a soccer player who didn’t know how to put on shoulder pads and said it was “nerve-racking” putting on a helmet for the first time.

One penalty was for spinning a football in the end zone and another for late in the game coming onto the field without a helmet to celebrate a play by the backup running back.

In the relief, the familiar domes of two combat helmets lay forgotten on the ground, revealing hair shorn to the scalp.