Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur appeared to swear at a Detroit Lions fan before losing Thursday’s game 34-31 at Ford Field.
Pre-game footage appeared to show LaFleur saying “shut up” to a Lions fan wearing a Brian Branch replica jersey on the lawn in Detroit.
According to Daire Carragher of 247 Sports, the fan was on the field to hold the oversized American flag for the national anthem before the game.
And as seen in the NFL Network footage, both sides had to be separated when game officials intervened to keep the peace.
There was predictably a lot of finger pointing online, given the intense rivalry between the Lions and Packers in the NFC North.
“Lions fan has had one good season and doesn’t know how to act,” one fan wrote online, referring to Detroit’s 2023 playoff berth — the team’s first in seven seasons.
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur signals during the first half in Detroit on Thursday
Others accused LaFleur of being “rattling” and “soft.”
LaFleur isn’t the only NFL coach losing patience with fans this season. In October, Philadelphia’s Nick Sirianni gestured to Eagles fans who had reportedly called for his firing.
Sirianni later apologized for the incident, explaining that he simply had too much enthusiasm after a win on October 13.
‘I tried to bring energy yesterday. Energy, enthusiasm,” Sirianni said in October.
‘I’m sorry and disappointed with the way my energy was spent at the end of the match. My energy must be completely focused on coaching, motivating and celebrating with our boys. I need to have better wisdom and discernment about when to use that energy, and that wasn’t the right time.”
“You want to be passionate and have energy, just like I did there today with the guys when we watched film together,” Sirianni said. ‘It’s about discerning when to do that. I wish there was a playbook for that kind of thing. It would make the job a little easier.”
Perhaps his most infamous fan interaction occurred last season when he barked at Chiefs fans after the Eagles won a Super Bowl rematch.
The pressure on Sirianni increased after the Eagles lost six of seven games (including the playoffs) over the summer, leaving his job status in doubt over the summer. He was granted a reprieve from Lurie, but found himself embroiled in controversy again for failing to keep his emotions in check in front of Eagles fans.
‘We have the best fans in the world. There’s no place like it,” Sirianni said. “They show up wherever we are. Brazil, Arizona, it doesn’t matter.”