The Detroit Lions revoked the season tickets of the fan who got into a verbal altercation with Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur during last week’s Thursday Night Football game. Per the Detroit News Fahad Yousif said the Lions informed him of the decision via email.
The altercation happened when Yousif was on the field before the game to hold part of the oversized flag during the national anthem. “The biggest gut punch, man,” Yousif said, per Pro Football Talk. “Just waking up and seeing that email and not being able to talk to somebody in person, it was a terrible feeling. I don’t have my chance to give my side of the story or anything.”
Before halftime, officials asked Yousif to leave. He said he “got caught up” in the moment and was “devastated” by the team’s decision. Yousif admitted that the incident “definitely could have been avoided” on his end.
After the altercation, LaFleur explained what happened, calling the fan “arrogant” and saying he’d never seen anything like it during his time coaching. “You know, you’re trying to de-escalate it, and then he gets in my face,” LaFleur said, via WXYZ Detroit. “I thought it was pretty unsportsmanlike. I’ve never seen that. I’ve been on many fields, and usually they police that much better.
Matt LaFleur is moving forward as the Packers face the Seahawks
“I thought it was an arrogant fan that wanted to get part of the action. I would like to see security, or something step in there and get him out of there because he shouldn’t be doing that.”
The Packers fell to the Lions 34-31 to drop to 9-4 on the year. They are in a good spot when it comes to the playoff picture, but it’s unlikely they will win the NFC North since they are three games behind the Lions with four games remaining in the season.
Green Bay has to move forward because the Seattle Seahawks are up next and they have won their last four games. “They’re going to throw a lot of different things at you,” LaFleur said of the Seahawks’ defense, per Packers.com. “You’ve got to be ready to adjust to them.”
