Longtime Detroit Lions fan Fahad Yousif regrets his impassioned exchange with the Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur on Dec. 5.
The Lions escorted Yousif out of the stadium during the game. The front office rescinded his season tickets via an email on Dec. 9, and he is hoping that can change. Yousif has talked with multiple media outlets since his on-field incident occurred.
Leading up to the altercation, Yousif was one of many people holding up a large American flag during the national anthem. After the anthem, Yousif was caught on camera exchanging words with LaFleur near the rolled-up flag. Referees got involved to break them up.
“This has been my identity my whole life, and it’s just ripped away from me over a small incident,” Yousif told The Detroit News on Thursday. “It definitely could’ve been avoided on my end.”
“I would let [the Lions] know I’m so sorry that I embarrassed this team,” he said. “Like, this really wasn’t my intention. I would apologize to anyone and do anything I could to get back in the stadium, supporting my team.”
“I’ve never been a part of something like that,” LaFleur told reporters. “He was talking junk to our players, giving them the throat-slash sign.”
“You’re trying to deescalate it, and then he gets in my face. I thought it was pretty unsportsmanlike,” LaFleur said. “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 wanted to get in part of the action,” LaFleur continued. “I would like to see security, or something step in there and get him out of there, because ... he shouldn’t be doing that.”
“But I don’t think this level was necessarily warranted,” Yousif said.
While Yousif has made the suspension of his season tickets known, the Lions organization hasn’t broadcast the matter. The Epoch Times reached out to the Lions and didn’t receive a response by publication time.
“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.”
Yousif told CBS News Detroit that the NFL is requiring him to complete a code of conduct course before he can attend any future game. He said that the league will charge $250 for the online course.
