Vikings' Jerome Simpson laid out drunk 49ers fan on field

Jerome Simpson caught two passes for 24 yards in the Vikings' third preseason game Sunday night against San Francisco but the biggest play of Simpson's night occurred in the fourth quarter when he tripped a drunk fan who'd run onto the field in a Niners jersey. Typically, when fans run out on the field during a professional sporting event, it's the police or security staff that chases down the unruly fans and often levels them to the ground before they're removed from the stadium. This time Simpson took matters into his own hands. As the Vikings were lining up to hike the ball, NBC announcers Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth noticed two fans running onto the field.

"Now you've got a couple of fans coming out," Michaels said.

NBC has a policy to not show fans who run out on the field during professional sporting events, so the camera almost immediately was taken off the field and clips of last year's Super Bowl were shown in place of a live broadcast. 

But Michaels and Collinsworth continued to describe the scene as it unfolded on the field.

"Jerome Simpson actually came off the sideline and whacked the guy," Michaels said.

Collinsworth went on to describe how "there's two different guys on the field and Jerome Simpson gave him the blind side and roughed this guy up a little bit."

The crowd roared as Simpson knocked the fan to the turf.

Less than two minutes later — on the same play — another fan ran onto the field and almost made it the entire 100 yards before being tackled by security. Here's a GIF of that idiot getting taken down by security.

After the third fan ran onto the field, NBC's sideline reporter, Michele Tafoya, spoke to Candlestick Park's security officials, who told her that bike cops who were stationed outside the stadium had been moved to the sidelines to prevent anyone else from rushing the field.