Ravens Fan Showing Signs Of Improvement After Stadium Fight With Raiders Fans (UPDATED)

UPDATE 3:25 p.m. The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday afternoon that Joseph Bauer had showed signs of improvement , giving doctors a thumbs up at their request. “We have been encouraged by some signs we believe indicate he recognizes his wife,” his sister told the Sun.

PREVIOUSLY:

Joseph Bauer, a 55-year-old Baltimore Ravens fan, remained “unresponsive” Monday after a stadium fight in Baltimore Sunday with two Oakland Raiders supporters, according to reports. The two suspects , Scott Smith, 30, of Mount Vernon, New York, and Andrew Nappi, 31, of Eastchester, New York, were charged with first- and second-degree assault and released on bond.

Bauer, a former Marine from the Baltimore suburb of Jessup, has been unconscious since the incident during the Ravens-Raiders game at M&T Bank Stadium.

“We’re clinging to hope ,” Susan Bauer, his sister, told the Baltimore Sun. “He’s still not responsive and not awake, and we don’t know the extent of his brain damage. The doctors said it was consistent with a major stroke.”

According to a police report cited by the Sun, Nappi said an argument started, then Bauer threw a bottle at Smith’s head and Nappi punched Bauer in the face. Bauer’s wife, Sharon, said Smith pushed her husband to the ground where he hit his head. 

“Two individuals had become involved in a verbal altercation with our victim,” Lt. Jarron Jackson of Baltimore Police Department said in a CBS Baltimore news segment. “That verbal altercation became physical. And at some point, the victim was pushed on the ground where he struck his head.” 

CBS reported that the encounter may have been the result of a good deed by Bauer. His sister told the station that he let someone cut in line at a concession stand, which sparked an argument with the two suspects.

“Here’s a man and a family that have been longtime season ticket holders, that know the people here that work in the building, that love the Ravens and have been to countless numbers of games at M&T Bank Stadium without incident,” Harbaugh said. “Then all of a sudden, there’s an incident where a gentleman is assaulted by somebody. That’s just not what we’re about. We’re a family. It’s a family atmosphere.”