“I can’t believe it’s come to this”: His Lions fan base is his identity. He almost lost it

NORTHVILLE, Mich. – It’s still two days until Fahad Yousif receives a so-called certificate of completion from the National Football League. It is dated December 12th. It is signed by Ari Novick, Ph.D., a licensed psychotherapist with a private practice in Laguna Beach, California. It bears the number “Cert #216932,” meaning that 216,931 others are believed to have received such an award. It cost $250 – the fee Yousif paid for a four-hour course that covered about eight or nine chapters on fan behavior expectations in NFL stadiums.

He holds up his phone to show me.

“I can’t believe it’s come to this,” he says.

This is what happens when everything goes too far. Yousif is the Detroit Lions fan who decided to tweet on the Green Bay Packers sideline during the pregame celebration last weekend at Ford Field. After a few choice words (no swearing, he makes it clear), he ran his thumb over his neck and made a slashing motion. Turns out that was a terrible, terrible idea. Because for some, most notably Packers coach Matt LaFleur, what started out as a garrulous, gossipy fan had become a raving lunatic making a threat. LaFleur shot back at Yousif. Yousif, smiling wildly, yelled at LaFleur. The security service got involved.

Yousif was on the pitch as a bonus to his ticket package. He was allowed to pick an additional bonus for the 2024 season and chose to be one of those fans who drag a giant American flag across the field during the pregame national anthem. Instead, security escorted him off the field before the anthem even began.

The dust-up went viral. After Yousif returned to his seat, he was ejected from Ford Field before halftime. Then LaFleur spoke about the incident in the postgame press conference, saying Detroit’s pregame activities should have been better monitored. On Wednesday, the Lions revoked Yousif’s season tickets. He was then banned from attending NFL games. Each day brought new waves of colleagues and old friends texting, “Did I see you on TV?” and media inquiries. Yousif took every opportunity to admit he was in the wrong and apologized. Everyone, including Yousif, more or less agreed that he had gone too far.

Toward the end of the week, the Lions and the league offered a path forward. The stadium ban would be lifted, Yousif was told, if he completed the code of conduct course and wrote a formal apology.

Now we are here. It’s Saturday afternoon, nearly a week after the incident and nearly 24 hours until the Lions host the Buffalo Bills in the NFL’s main game this weekend. Yousif accepted an invitation to meet at a Starbucks in Metro Detroit.

Maybe this is about living within the blast radius of a viral moment.

Or it could be about almost missing out on perhaps the best season in Lions history.

Or about regret.

Or second chances.

But then Yousif is asked what he almost lost.

“Oh man, everything,” he says. “This is who I am, and you know, I almost lost that. I don’t reject the criticism I received. None of that. I agree with most of them.

“I had the honor of carrying the flag of a country I love. I crossed the line and it shouldn’t have happened. I understand where people are coming from. I can’t believe this happened.”

Yousif is many things. He is a product of Metro Detroit’s large Chaldean community – a first-generation American, born to a father from Iraq and a mother from Kuwait. He is an older sibling of two brothers. He is a graduate of Wayne State University. He is a sales representative for an automotive tool company in the Midwest. He is husband and wife Gabby.

But he identifies most as a Lions fan.

Yousif grew up speaking only Arabic at home. He tried everything to fit in at school and felt most comfortable talking about football. He says that when he visited Farmington Hills public schools, he introduced himself by saying, “Hello, I’m Fahad. I’m a big Lions fan.”

Yousif ignored his father Saad’s requests to play football. Instead, he played defensive end and linebacker in middle school and through high school. In 2013, he secured tickets to his first game at Ford Field. Together with an older cousin, he now attended four to five games a year.

“It was so natural,” says Yousif. “It was like we came here, this is who we’re rooting for. Fingers crossed for the Lions no matter what happens.”

Yousif continued to learn and understand the game, but like so many others, he fell into the same trap that has afflicted generations of Lions fans. He believed.

“Oh, the Matt Patricia era, bro,” he says now, fighting back a laugh, “I totally bought the hype.”

But like all these generations of Lions fans, something came from that belief. Shared experience. Yousif convinced his father to commit to the Lions. He sold the dream. “This is the year.” Soon Yousif stopped attending the games and instead watched the games at his father’s house. Two chairs. Big screen TV. Permanent appointment.

“Every year he got more and more into it,” says Yousif. “He finally got it and it kind of changed our whole relationship. Those years weren’t very good for the Lions, but you know, they were good for us.”

The Dan Campbell era in Detroit began in 2021 with the franchise trading star quarterback Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff. Yousif called his father when the news broke. It was mid-March. Saad, 65, was newly retired and ready to embark on his next ride as a Lions fan.

Six weeks later, Yousif learned that his father was unwell. He entered the hospital. He was placed on a ventilator.

“It happened so quickly,” says Yousif. “Within ten days he was dead.”

Yousif made no mention of this in his numerous media appearances this week. Viral moments have no time. That and his story don’t excuse what happened last week.

“It still shouldn’t have happened,” he says. “I was also a big pro wrestling fan growing up and I think I have some of that in my personality. I grab the heel.”

You can be sure that this personality is big. Yousif is by far the loudest person in the café. He speaks as if he were drinking kerosene. A customer closed his laptop and went to a table at the other end. But Yousif can’t seem to do anything about it. He just seems to act with equal parts excitement and emotion.

Until he talks about the Lions’ final seasons. After his father’s death, Yousif wasn’t sure if he could still watch the Lions. Every game resulted in a defeat, no matter the result. As he says this, he is caught and pauses, his teeth clenched and his cheeks trembling.

The 2021 season came and went. He watched the 2022 games at home and had a free seat for his father. Before 2023 he decided to take the big step. Season tickets. Lower bowl. Section 141, 33 lines up.

He watched his team go 12-5 and win the NFC North last season.

“I know it sounds crazy – really, I do – but it feels like Dad is saying: Yo, it’s okay, I got you“, he says. “I’ve been telling people for the last few years that he has the whole thing under control. I found a lot of comfort in it. I think he heard me say that I didn’t want to watch the Lions anymore. He wanted to make it easier.”

Now Yousif is cheering on football’s most unlikely juggernaut. The Lions have a 12-1 lead and are currently the favorites – something so unthinkable we don’t even want to say it.

Neither he nor anyone else can really imagine what is happening. Yousif says he admits his mistake and accepts the punishment, but also believes LaFleur overreacted and that this may never have escalated to such an extent. He hopes for another duel between the Lions and the Packers in the playoffs.

He plans to be there. Just like he plans to be in the stands for the Lions-Bills. A huge group of long-time season ticket holders who operate a tailgate out of Eastern Market invited him to the tailgate on Sunday. There may be a ticket for him.

Even though his season tickets are seemingly lost forever, Yousif can still visit his team.

So he’ll be a fan.

He doesn’t know how to be anything else.

(Illustration: Meech Robinson / The athletic one; Photos: Nic Antaya / Getty Images; Courtesy of Fahed Yousif)