Matt LaFleur’s night got off to a tense start before his team even kicked off Thursday.
During the pregame festivities, the Green Bay Packers coach got in a heated confrontation with a Detroit Lions fan who was on the field to help hold up the American flag during the national anthem. LaFleur and the fan – who was wearing a Brian Branch jersey – yelled and pointed at one another before a Packers staffer stepped between them.
Several Packers players then approached before officials broke up the confrontation.
‘I’ve never been a part of something like that,’ LaFleur said after the Packers’ 34-31 loss. ‘He was talking junk to our players, giving them the throat-slash sign. You’re trying to de-escalate it, and then he gets in my face. So I thought it was pretty unsportsmanlike.’
LaFleur added that he wished that the fan had been removed before things got even more heated.
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‘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 on part of the action. I would like to see security step in there and get him out of there, because he shouldn’t be doing that.’
The loss dropped the Packers to 9-4, putting them three games back of the Lions in the NFC North race.