--- description: Football reporter Melissa Stark was sharing a game update before an NFL match in London when she got hit by a stray ball. title: Sports Reporter Got Hit by a Football On Camera image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0621e00ed2ac748/69893d23457a525aa8d5faf3/screen-shot-2018-10-22-at-11-04-48-am.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sports Reporter Got Hit by a Football On Camera and Recovered Like the Pro She Is  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 22, 2018 3:36 PM CUT  Twitter  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 22, 2018 3:36 PM CUT No man — or woman — is safe on the field. That’s the lesson learned by [football](http://time.com/5412533/football-concussion-rates-drop-rule-change/ "undefined") reporter Melissa Stark, who was delivering an on-air segment before an [NFL game](http://time.com/money/5429618/nfl-games-today-how-to-watch-online-for-free/ "undefined") at [Wembley Stadium](https://www.chargers.com/news/recap-chargers-top-titans-20-19-in-london-thriller "undefined") in London when she was hit right in the head by a stray ball. Sharing the clip on Twitter, Stark had a sense of humor about it: “Hurts more every time I watch it… London, I’ll never forget you!” she joked, adding that she was thankfully “already off the injury report.” Stark was in the U.K. in advance of a L.A. Chargers vs. Tennessee Titans match when the errant football found the back of her head (and not whatever its presumed target must have been). As she noted in her tweet, she’s been covering the NFL for two decades — and getting interrupted by an unexpected ball in that way while on air was a first. “I’m really not in a good area here,” she said as she continued to give her report, flinching from further potential hits but staying focused on getting the facts of her report across against the odds. Followers applauded Stark’s flawless recovery and commitment — and even had an idea or two about how to protect against future hits. > [](https://twitter.com/melissastark/status/1054013861580496896) > [](https://twitter.com/BlairCrgn/status/1054015662786457600) > [](https://twitter.com/ijustine/status/1054225050679693312) > [](https://twitter.com/melissastark/status/1053987893763604480) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5430885/football-reporter-hit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5430885/football-reporter-hit/"},"headline":"Sports Reporter Got Hit by a Football On Camera and Recovered Like the Pro She Is","datePublished":"2018-10-22T15:36:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:33.926Z","description":"\"Hurts more every time I watch it\"","url":"https://time.com/5430885/football-reporter-hit/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Sports"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0621e00ed2ac748/69893d23457a525aa8d5faf3/screen-shot-2018-10-22-at-11-04-48-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd0621e00ed2ac748/69893d23457a525aa8d5faf3/screen-shot-2018-10-22-at-11-04-48-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"melissa-stark-nfl","caption":"","creditText":"Twitter","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5430885/football-reporter-hit/","name":"Sports Reporter Got Hit by a Football On Camera and Recovered Like the Pro She Is"}}]}] ```