Fahad Yousif, Detroit Lions take fan’s season tickets after altercation with Matt LaFleur. Photo:
TMJ4/YouTube
Published on December 13, 2024 03:53PM EST
The Detroit Lions have taken away a fan’s season tickets after he was involved in a verbal altercation with Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur.
The fan, Fahad Yousif, told WXYZ in Detroit that he and his wife were on the field before the Thursday, Dec. 5 game to help carry out the American flag during the National Anthem — a perk of being season ticket holders — when he began trash-talking nearby Packers players and coaches.
“We’re about 5, 10 yards away from the sideline just kind of looking at all the players, definitely letting them know you’re going down, you’re done, it’s over, let them know we’re gonna beat you two times,” Yousif told the outlet on Dec. 12, noting that the Packers head coach “didn’t like that.”
Things escalated when LaFleur saw Yousif taunting his players with a throat-slashing motion.
“Once I did the throat slash, he absolutely lost it, which I understand,” said Yousif — a longtime fan of the team with a Lions tattoo on his leg. He admitted he “got caught up in the moment” while on the field.
Yousif was asked by a Ford Field employee to return to his seat before carrying the flag out, and then was asked to leave the venue by employees and multiple state troopers before the second half of the game started, The Athletic reported.
He told the outlet that he was surprised his taunts were taken so seriously.
After the game, LaFleur told reporters that he’s “never been a part of something like that” when asked about the incident with Yousif. “He was talking junk to our players, giving ’em the throat-slash sign. You’re trying to de-escalate it, and then he gets in my face,” LaFleur added, calling Yousif’s behavior “unsportsmanlike.”
Yousif told 7 News Detroit that the Lions’ head of fan conduct emailed him to say his tickets had been revoked indefinitely, with no opportunity to appeal the decision, which the Athletic also confirmed with the Lions.
Yousif said it was “kind of surreal” reading the email from his favorite team. “It had finally just sunk in for a second, and then I kind of got a little bit upset,” he told the outlet.
“I totally see their side of things. I didn’t follow their code of conduct, so I have to pay the price now.”
If he wants to return to Ford Field, even with a single-game ticket, Yousif will have to take a code of conduct course, he told the outlet.
“I regret how it all unfolded and how much it blew up,” he said. “I definitely have learned my lesson. That behavior is not accepted.”
