Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur cleaned up a viral comment he made about rookie kicker Anders Carlson that was shared during Saturday’s NFC Divisional loss.
When FOX’s Tom Rinaldi made the quip during the broadcast on Saturday, LaFleur went viral. After sending rookie kicker Carlson—who led the league in missed kicks—out for a field goal try, the Packers coach said, “I just pray.”
On Monday, the coach gave clarification, stating that the remark was made in jest and he was upset that FOX had broadcast it without providing the necessary context.
#Packers HC Matt LaFleur says the FOX broadcast relaying that he prays before every FG was “extremely disappointing.”
LaFleur says he was saying it in jest and it was portrayed the wrong way.pic.twitter.com/Dw7WXrYlrz https://t.co/VV7dnvEvFx
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 22, 2024
“That was extremely disappointing that that’s how that message got portrayed,” LaFleur told reporters. “I’ve been a part of production meetings ever since I became a coordinator and I’ve never had an experience like that, but it is what it is. I talked to Anders about it. I think any time something’s out of your control, kind of saying it in jest and having fun with it, but it got portrayed that way and it’s a learning lesson for me.”
Rinaldi shared the comment after Carlson missed a 41-yard field goal in the fourth quarter that would have given the Packers a seven-point lead. It is fair to say that FOX should have made it clear that LaFleur was joking around provided the coach made it obvious that he was. Of course, as he noted, LaFleur should know by now that anything he might share in a production meeting is liable to be relayed on the air, sometimes in ways that he might not have intended.
