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Eric Woodard, ESPN
DETROIT — The Lions confirmed to ESPN that they have revoked the season ticket of a fan involved in a pregame altercation with Packers head coach Matt LaFleur at Ford Field last week.
Television cameras captured a heated exchange between LaFleur and Lions fan Fahad Yousef of Farmington Hills, Miss., who was holding a hand last Thursday night. One of the crowds playing the national anthem under a huge flag.
LaFleur can be seen yelling at fans but said his actions were provoked.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” LaFleur said after the team’s 34-31 loss to the Lions on Sunday. “He talked trash to our players and gave them the cut-throat gesture. You try to deescalate the situation and then he gets in my face. I thought it was very unsportsmanlike.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve been to a lot of stadiums and usually they have better policing. I thought it was an arrogant fan wanting to get involved. I would have liked to see security, or something, step in and Get him out of there because he shouldn’t be doing it, yeah.
Yusuf confirmed the team’s decision to The Detroit News and said he was “shocked” by the move after being contacted via email.
“Man, this is the hardest hit,” Yusef told The Detroit News on Thursday. “It felt terrible to wake up and see that email and not be able to talk to someone in person. I didn’t have a chance to say my side or anything.”
The Lions are off to the best start in franchise history with a 12-1 record and an 11-game winning streak. They’ll return to Ford Field on Sunday to take on the Bills (10-3), a Super Bowl contender. Yusef, a lifelong Lions fan, said the team’s success “hurt us even more.”
“This has been my identity my whole life and it was just taken away from me because of one small incident. It’s definitely something I could have avoided,” Yusef told The Detroit News.
“I will let [the Lions] I know I’m sorry for embarrassing this team. Like, that was really not my intention. I will apologize to anyone and do whatever I can to get back into the stadium and support my team.
ESPN’s Rob Demovsky contributed to this report.
