Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur appeared to curse at a Detroit Lions fan before losing Thursday's game at Ford Field, 34-31.
Pre-game footage seemed to show LaFleur saying 'shut the f*** up' to a Lions fan wearing a Brian Branch replica jersey on the turf in Detroit.
According to 247 Sports' Daire Carragher, the fan was on the field to hold the oversized American flag for the pre-game national anthem.
And as seen in the NFL Network footage, both parties needed to be separated as game officials stepped in to keep the peace.
There was an predictable amount of finger pointing online, given the intense rivalry between the Lions and Packers in the NFC North.
'Lions fan has one good season and don't know how to act,' one fan wrote online, referring to Detroit's 2023 playoff berth – the team's first in seven seasons.
Others accused LaFleur of being 'rattled' and 'soft.'
LaFleur is not the only NFL coach to lose his temper with fans this season. In October, Philadelphia's Nick Sirianni gestured and jawed with Eagles fans who had reportedly called for his firing.
Sirianni later apologized for the incident, explaining that he simply had too much enthusiasm coming off a win on October 13.
'I was trying to bring energy yesterday. Energy, enthusiasm,' Sirianni said in October.
'I'm sorry and disappointed at how my energy was directed at the end of the game. My energy should be all in on coaching, motivating and celebrating with our guys. I have to have better wisdom and discernment of when to use that energy and that wasn't the time.'
'You want to be passionate and have energy just like I did in there today with the guys when we watched film together,' Sirianni said. 'It's having that discernment of when to do that. I wish there was a playbook for stuff like that. It would make the job a little bit easier to do.'
Perhaps his most infamous fan interaction came last season when he barked at Chiefs fans after the Eagles won a Super Bowl rematch.
The pressure was ratcheted up on Sirianni after the Eagles lost six of seven games (including playoffs) down the stretch, which left his job status in doubt over the summer. He earned a reprieve from Lurie — only to find himself swirling in controversy again for failing to keep his emotions in check against Eagles fans.
'We have the best fans in the world. There's no place like this,' Sirianni said. 'They show up and show out no matter where we are. Brazil, Arizona, it doesn’t matter.”
