Landon Donovan is one of the best American soccer players of all time. Apparently the list skills required to rise to such a lofty place in USMNT history does not require an ability to safely stage dive and crowd surf.
Because last night, Donovan jumped into a waiting crowd from the top of a food truck, and…here, just watch for yourself:
@landondonovan, @AlexiLalas & @RobStoneONFOX all just jumped off a food truck at our #USAvHON #AONB4. How's your night going?… pic.twitter.com/8mS2zgJ4lJ
— AO San Jose (@AOSanJose) March 24, 2017
So that’s not ideal form. Traditionally, you do a bit of a trust fall backwards, giving the crowd a big target to catch, spreading your weight out a bit among the people below, and minimizing your fall distance.
Landon seems to jump up, like he’s competing in a springboard event at the Olympics, and goes legs first. It’s a good thing he’s still relatively small, or someone could have been crushed down there. And from that height, had an accident happened, his legs-first approach could have been disastrous.
Why would he do it that way? Maybe he thought he saw Jurgen Klinsmann in the crowd, and wanted to attempt a top-rope leg drop?
Fortunately, everyone apparently ended up okay, including FOX’s Rob Stone and Alexi Lalas, who reportedly made the same leap of faith. Hopefully they deployed more sensible strategies.
