Hoverboard-mania swept the country this winter, but the fad seems to have left behind Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera.
According to ESPN, Rivera banned the segway-like vehicles from the Panthers’ facilities and “strongly suggested” players, including noted hoverboard-enthusiast Cam Newton, not ride them to and from home.
From ESPN:
“Have you seen those things on YouTube blowing up?” Rivera said on Monday. “I mean that’s what concerns me more than anything else. What if something crazy happens?
“I will say this, too. I caught them drag racing in the freaking hallway one time, too.”
Rivera wouldn’t say which players he caught. But among those most commonly seen riding the hoverboards around the facility are Newton, cornerback Josh Norman, safety Tre Boston and safety Roman Harper.
“So the truth is what happened was somebody told me about them igniting,” Rivera said. “So I go on YouTube and found them. They also showed the ones with people falling off, the ones with people making sharp turns and somebody standing there and running into them.
“I can’t imagine. We still have some that ride them to and from work. I’m trying to get them not to, but they do. But inside the facility we don’t want them running around.”
Much has been made of the danger of the increasingly popular hoverboards. According to Yahoo!, hoverboards are banned in the United Kingdom and prohibited on many major airlines because of the fire risk posed by their lithium ion batteries. YouTube, of course, is loaded with videos of people of all ages falling off their hoverboards.
You might think world-class athletes can navigate a hoverboard without incident, but we’ve seen that’s not always the case. Mike Tyson and Dan Uggla have been among the hoverboard’s notable victims over the past month.
Imagine the outrage if Newton, Norman or another Panther was forced to miss the NFL Championship Game after suffering a hoverboard-related incident.
Still, Newton will surely be disappointed about the new edict.
Cam Newton on a hover board! and totally dissed the guys hand😂 pic.twitter.com/hMlVQlspnl
— Abi Webb (@abiwebb25) November 29, 2015
[ESPN]
