Chiefs players rip their own fans for cheering Matt Cassel injury

It was not a pretty sight Sunday, when fans of the Kansas City Chiefs cheered as their team’s quarterback, Matt Cassell, had to leave the game against the Baltimore Ravens because of head injury.

Cassel was hurt when he was hit by the Ravens’ Haloti Ngata while completing a pass in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ 9-6 loss at Kansas City, Mo.

Cassel remained prone on the ground after being hit, and fans cheered the sight of the injured Cassel, who has not played that well for the Chiefs the last two seasons.

“It’s sickening,” Chiefs tackle Eric Winston said. “I’ve never, ever -- and I’ve been in some rough times on some rough teams -- I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life to play football than at that moment right there. I get emotional about it because these guys, they work their butts off. Matt Cassel hasn’t done anything to you people.

“Hey, if he’s not the best quarterback, he’s not the best quarterback, and that’s OK, but he’s a person. And he got knocked out in a game, and we’ve got 70,000 people cheering that he got knocked out. We are not gladiators and this is not the Roman Colosseum. ... We’ve got a lot of problems as a society if people think that’s OK.”

Winston wasn’t the only Chiefs player defending his quarterback.

“It’s not right, you know what I’m saying? I’ll speak that for any stadium, any player to get hurt,” said Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles. “When someone gets booed, it’s not right. It’s his health. You know what I’m saying? He got hurt. You have to respect.”

Even the guy who hit him defended Cassel after the game.

“For them to cheer for him being hurt,” Ngata said, “that’s just not cool.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.