Is this true?
Detroit’s not letting this one go.
The Lions had the Green Bay Packers on the ropes on Monday night, and multiple calls went against the Lions. The most notable bad calls were a pair of illegal hands to the face flags on Lions defensive end Trey Flowers, though on replay it looked like Flowers did nothing wrong. The penalties were a big reason the Packers rallied to win on a field goal as time expired. The NFL afterward said that the second penalty, which kept the game-winning drive alive, shouldn’t have been called.
It’s not going to change the outcome of that crucial NFC North game, but some anonymous Lions fans bought multiple billboards in Michigan to show their disapproval of the officials, in a funny way.
A referee in a cheesehead?
As angry Lions fans made their commute to work this week, they were greeted by billboards showing a football referee wearing a cheesehead, the popular headwear of Packers fans.
Anonymous Lions fans buy billboards featuring referee with cheesehead. https://www.wxyz.com/sports/anonymous-lions-fans-buy-billboards-featuring-referee-with-cheesehead pic.twitter.com/IbEaAa2GF2
— WXYZ Detroit (@wxyzdetroit) October 17, 2019
These billboards protesting the referees in the Lions-Packers game are popping up on metro Detroit highways. http://bit.ly/35EQE3M pic.twitter.com/RvAAMmbZBT
— Detroit Free Press (@freep) October 17, 2019
We can debate if that’s worth the anonymous fans’ investment, but it is pretty funny.
Not the first time Lions fans have been angry
WXYZ in Detroit said the group bought the billboards on many of the major highways in metro Detroit:
• Northbound I-75 & Westminister
• I-275 south of 10 Mile
• I-94 south of 23 Mile
• I-96 east of Milford
• I-75 & Waterman
• I-94 & Middlebelt
• I-94 north of Masonic
WXYZ also said the same group that bought these billboards was responsible for anti-official billboards in 2015. That year, officials missed Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright batting a fumble out of the end zone, which should have been a penalty and allowed the Lions to keep possession at the 1-yard line of a close game.
The Lions have had a few notable instances of key calls going against them. At least it’s helping the local billboard businesses in Michigan.