Ron Benton-Klein and his 6-year-old son, Elijah, went to get some popcorn and water.
When they returned to their University of Maryland tailgate party near the Riggs Alumni Center on Saturday, they heard a commotion.
A particularly enthusiastic fan perhaps?
Actually, it was an uninvited guest -- a deer -- that decided to join tailgaters before the Terps' football game with Old Dominion.
"It was a big doe," said Benton-Klein, a season-ticket holder from Laurel. "The deer had run into the glass partition right next to the [Riggs Center's] double doors. It didn't shatter. You just heard a big thump. Then it ran into the glass again."
Somebody called the campus police.
A band began playing "and she got spooked and ran toward Cole Field House," Benton-Klein said.
Sgt. Aaron Davis, a campus police spokesman, said the deer apparently "kicked somebody," and the person was hospitalized. No identification was available of the injured person.
"I don't think it was too serious," Davis said.
He said the deer "just ran away."