The Detroit Lions defeated the Green Bay Packers at a sold-out Ford Field, putting more distance between them and their NFC North rival. But there was a particular incident that took place before the game which resulted in the Lions telling one fan of theirs that he’s no longer welcome at their home games.
A Lions fan went viral on social media for his verbal sparring with Packers head coach Matt LaFleur shortly after participating in the holding of the giant American flag during the playing of the national anthem.
The fan, later identified as Fahad Yousif of Farmington Hills, threw a verbal jab at LaFleur and the Packers, causing LaFleur to eventually try and confront him before being pulled away by Packers players. He also had his season tickets indefinitely revoked by the Lions.
LaFleur later said that he’d never experienced anything like that, via The Detroit News.
“I’ve never been a part of something like that. He was talking junk to our players, giving them the throat-slash sign and, you know, you’re trying to de-escalate it, and then he gets in my face,” said LaFleur. “I thought it was pretty unsportsmanlike. I’ve never seen that. I’ve been on many fields, and usually, they police that much better.
“I thought it was an arrogant fan that, you know, wanted to get in part of the action. I would like to see security or something step in there and get him out of there.”
Yousif’s season tickets were revoked for an indefinite period of time.
The Lions fan who sparred with Matt LaFleur tells his side of things
A self-proclaimed Lions superfan, Yousif admitted that he’s devastated over the decision by the Lions to revoke his season tickets indefinitely, especially given Detroit’s status as a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
“The biggest gut punch, man,” Yousif said. “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.”
As Yousif said, Lions security personnel located him around halftime and ejected him from the venue; he later received an email notifying him of the suspension of his season tickets.
