It didn’t take long for us to witness fireworks on “Thursday Night Football” this week. We anticipated a heated matchup between the Detroit Lions and rival Green Bay Packers, but things got testy before we even had a chance to sing the national anthem!
As those at Ford Field were setting up for the “The Star-Spangled Banner,” a fan that appeared to be on the field for the pregame ceremony exchanged words with Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. The interaction was picked up by NFL Network cameras. Check out what happened:
Following the Packers’ 34-31 loss to the Lions, LaFleur gave an explanation on what happened with the fan before kickoff.
“Never been a part of something like that… he was talking junk to our players, giving them the throat slash sign,” LaFleur said, via NFL Media. “You’re trying to deescalate it and then he gets in my face… I thought it was pretty unsportsmanlike… usually they police that a lot better, I would like to see security or something step in there and get him out of here.”
The fan was clearly elated to get a response from the rival coach, and even tried to pump up the home crowd once they realized what was going on. LaFleur was backed up by several players, including running back Josh Jacobs, while assistant coaches and NFL officials got in between the two parties before things escalated.
