A lifelong Raiders fan — a lot usually noted for their impish ways — is being called a hero today after breaking the fall of a woman who plunged from the Oakland Coliseum's upper deck shortly after Sunday's game. A woman apparently made her way up to a tarped-off area of the stadium to take her life. Fans pleaded with her not to jump, but she leapt anyway.

Oakland Tribune's David DeBolt has more:

The tense, brief standoff began around 4:30 p.m., 15 minutes after the end of the game in which Oakland lost 23-19 to the Tennessee Titans, authorities said.

The 61-year-old Stockton man, a Marine Corps veteran, was on the second deck concourse level when he noticed the woman above, and repeatedly shouted, "don't do it," Nelson said.

But she jumped to the concourse below. The woman, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital with critical injuries. She had gone to the west upper deck seating area in a section covered by a tarp, police said, and it appeared she was alone before she jumped.

As she went over the railing of the deck, the man stepped up and tried to catch her. While he didn't succeed in catching her, he did manage to break her fall, injuring himself in the process. Sgt. J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office told the Tribune, "He saved her life quite honestly, at his own expense ... This guy 100 percent saved her life. She'd be dead now."

The scene was harrowing for fans who had to witness the woman's fall. KTVU reports:

“We were going on the air as all these people were running by,” sports radio host Chris Townsend told KTVU.

Townsend and his crew from 95.7 “The Game” were starting their post-game show when he says chaos erupted. Fans ran past, screaming for help, and screaming in horror.
“You could see people in tears, and see their faces, and know something just awful had happened,” said Townsend.

The unidentified woman was whisked to a nearby hospital with "critical injuries," while the man, who has also not yet been identified, is still being treated for serious injuries.

[KTVU]
[Oakland Tribune]