SANTA CLARA (KRON)—Two days later and a young San Francisco 49ers fan is still receiving worldwide attention after sprinting onto the field before security tackled him to the turf.
On Wednesday, KRON4’s Philippe Djegal sat down with the 16-year-old now coping with his newfound fame.
“Hey somebody has ran out on the field,” said Westwood One radio play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan.
It happens in all professional sports, but this time the trespasser made headlines.
“Now he takes off the shirt,” Harlan said.
Harlan had fun with it, but despite his initial observation.
“The guy is drunk, but there he goes,” Harlan said.
16-year-old William Navarrete says he did not have a drink.
The Brentwood native says he was completely sober.
“It feels weird that a lot of people have seen me,” Navarette said.
Many have reached out.
Navarrete’s sister wrote his phone number on his shirt before the game, knowing he was going to storm the field.
That’s resulted in hundreds of missed calls and text messages from women turned fans.
“Sexy bod, and you’re cute,” one text message read.
Known as a risk taker by friends, a week before the Niners season opener, Navarette’s buddies challenged him to run onto the field, and he accepted.
In the fourth quarter, he told his dad Herman he was going to the restroom.
But instead, walked down a level to section 123, where he already knew security wouldn’t check his ticket.
“I was looking everywhere, looking at the field, seeing which would be the best area, and I noticed there was a security guard not checking the tickets for this section, so knew this was my spot,” Navarette said.
The rest is history Navarette made it onto the field.
At first, his father concerned, then proud.
“People sitting next to me were saying, ‘Wow, I wish I was his dad,’ that was great, what he did was awesome,” said Herman Navarette. “They were giving me high fives.”
Banned for a year from Levi’s Stadium, William Navarette also has to complete a fan code of conduct course before he can ever return.
The San Francisco 49ers released a statement regarding the incident.
“As is the case with any breach in protocols, we will evaluate and institute any necessary changes,” the 49ers said.
As for Navarette, he’ll have to appear in court, but he wasn’t arrested because he’s a minor.
He’s not sure if he’ll ever do this again before turning 18, but this was certainly a memory he won’t soon forget.
“I tried to high five one of the players, he was just standing there like that, didn’t want to do it, then I blew a kiss to one of the Rams,” Navarette said.