For Cleveland Browns wide receiver David Bell, playing in Indianapolis is like going to a family reunion. At this most recent meeting, they even added a new member before halftime.
The whole family gathered on Oct. 22, when Bell's baby cousin was unexpectedly born inside Lucas Oil Stadium during the first quarter of the Indianapolis Colts-Cleveland Browns game.
On Sunday at approximately 1:20 p.m., Tylan Jones (Bell's cousin) gave birth to baby girl Kimmarie in the stadium's first-aid center.
“We were so excited,” Bell's mother, Kareem Norwood, tells TODAY.com. “It moved very quickly from her coming into the stadium then getting her over to the first aid and to her actually delivering the baby. Probably like 15 minutes at the most.”
Norwood took a few photos of the baby and sent them to the rest of the family, who were extremely surprised to receive them. After all, they had walked into the stadium with Jones just moments before. The first quarter hadn’t even ended yet.
“I sent a blast text to everybody,” Norwood says, “and I started getting all these texts back like, ‘When did this happen?’”
"It’s a blessing," Bell said in an interview with Fox 59 in Indianapolis. "Her whole idea was to try to have the baby before the game, but you know it’s all in God’s time. So, now I have a new niece. So, hopefully I get to see her when I come back to the city."
Bell was raised in Indianapolis and most of his family still lives there. So when the football schedule came out and they saw that one of their own would be playing nearby on Oct. 22, dozens of family members purchased tickets to the game.
Jones "had been going to her doctor's appointments and they were telling her, 'You're not there yet. You're not there yet.' So she felt safe going into the game," Norwood says about her cousin's condition.
Jones, who has two older daughters (Kennedii, 4, and Kayleigh, 18 months), had been looking forward to attending the game. She was really hoping her third baby would arrive earlier than her due date on Oct. 26 so she could watch her cousin play. She even pre-purchased Cleveland Browns gear for the newborn in hopes the baby would be wearing it on Sunday.
Since there were no signs of labor, Jones joined the family tailgate outside the stadium at around 11 a.m.
"She started having contractions, and so she started timing them and they were coming pretty quick," Norwood explains. "We kept asking her, 'Do you want to go to the hospital, or do you want to try to go over to the game?'"
Jones insisted on going to the stadium.
After the 25 to 30 family members made it through the security checkpoint, they split up to find their seats.
As Jones headed to the restroom, she realized there was no way she was going to make it through to the end the game. Her mother called Norwood, who had left to find her own seat, to tell her that Jones needed to go to the hospital.
As Norwood began relaying that information to the other family members, she received a second call from Jones's mother, who said, "Oh, we're not going to make it to the hospital. The baby's coming now!"
Jones was being transported to the first-aid station, and Norwood made her way there as quickly as possible.
Shortly after EMTs told Jones to push, Norwood heard Kimmarie's cries in the air. Mom and baby were transported to a local hospital in separate ambulances, where they were reunited with no complications.
"I believe she'll be a Browns fan," Norwood concludes.
