He was luckily able to walk off under his own power.

PublishedJanuary 2, 2026 6:20 PM EST•UpdatedJanuary 2, 2026 6:24 PM EST

If there was ever an appropriate microcosm of a January 2 bowl game between two teams without a winning record, it would probably be the pregame snafu that happened at the Armed Forces Bowl between Rice and Texas State.

Just to get everyone up to speed, the game, which took place at Amon G. Carter Stadium on TCU's campus, featured a parachutist jumping from a military plane that was supposed to land on the field.

With the theme of the bowl being armed forces related and with several air force bases nearby, it made perfect sense to have an aerial display such as the one we saw earlier today.

Unfortunately, things didn't go according to plan, and when you're jumping out of a plane, that's never something you want to hear.

Maybe it was a little windy in Tarrant County this afternoon, or this guy genuinely didn't account for the field goal net.

I'm absolutely petrified of heights, so both the jumping out of an airplane thing and being caught by the net are some of my worst nightmares playing out in real time.

What's worse, the poor parachutist bailed and fell 35 feet onto the ground below, and by the looks of it, it wasn't exactly a soft landing either.

Luckily, our brave soldier moonlighting as a Hollywood stuntman was able to walk off on his own power, or this could have been a lot worse of an ending.

It doesn't matter what happens these days, the internet has jokes, and the fine folks on X let their best ones fly (I'm assuming they made sure he was okay first).

It's pretty wild we can watch one of our servicemen fall from the height of a three-story building onto concrete and still make jokes, but I'd expect nothing less from social media users in 2026.

As for the game, it was an absolute snoozer, with Texas State taking Rice behind the woodshed, meaning this parachute stunt was probably the highlight for anyone in attendance.

A strange end to bowl season, for sure.