ESPN
East Carolina defensive back David Coleman Jr. is injured by a sliding referee.
Freshman defensive back David Coleman Jr. had to be helped off the field during East Carolina‘s game against Temple on Saturday after suffering a gruesome-looking leg injury.
It’s the circumstances of the injury, however, that are stealing all the headlines.
Coleman didn’t injure himself trying to make a cut. He didn’t injure himself getting pulled down or running into an opposing player or teammate. Instead, he suffered the injury after he was inadvertantly slide tackled by an out-of-control referee.
A referee just broke one of our players legs. You can’t make this up https://t.co/QnqK3e3uEV
— No Quarter ECU (@ECU_NoQuarter) October 31, 2026
East Carolina Fans Call Out Referee Over David Coleman Jr.’s Broken Leg
Video of the incident shows the referee sprinting toward Coleman for seemingly no reason. As he approaches the player, he begins to try to slow down. Instead, he loses his footing and slides directly into Coleman, collapsing his right leg in the process.
Coleman had to be helped off the field and could not put any weight on the leg. He did not return to the game, and ESPN reported that he was transported to the hospital with an apparent broken leg.
Unsurprisingly, ECU fans were furious with the ref’s apparent recklessness.
“WTF? Come on, they can’t be this incompetent!!!!!!” one stated.
“If you needed more proof that our conference hates us, their ref literally broke one of our players’ legs,” wrote another.
Here’s hoping Coleman is able to make a full and speedy recovery after one of the more unfortunate injuries you will ever see in sports.