A Lions fan who posted a racist message on his Snapchat prior to Sunday's home opener against the Cardinals is no longer a season ticket holder and will no longer be welcome at Ford Field, reports the Detroit News' Justin Rogers.
The unidentified fan posted a photo of two African-American fans sitting during the national anthem and wrote, "Ignorant N-----s" underneath the post. Stacey Graham is one of the fans in the photo, and she explained in an interview with WXYZ that she sits during the anthem because she disagrees with lyrics in the third verse.
Lions defensive end Akeem Spence was shocked when he heard what happened.
"Yeah, it's crazy, man, but we all weren't brought up the same way," Spence said, via ESPN.com. "We all weren't brought up to have the same beliefs. I feel like we're all equal no matter what skin color or race. Some people, that's not their beliefs. I can't fault them for that and they can't fault me for the way I believe. But let's all get along."
Safety Grover Quin admitted to being frustrated that racism is still a problem in American in 2017. And he doesn't see it changing anytime soon.
"If we're still around in 2087, probably still be having it. Fact of life," he said.
Running back Ameer Abdullah, who was outspoken during the violence in Charlottesville last month, tweeted about the incident Sunday:
"Definitely, if someone doesn't like me about my stance on the situation, especially when it comes down to racial issues, then I really don't want that guy to root for me anyway," Abdullah said. "So that's something that my dad kind of taught me: Not everyone is going to like you, but stand for something or you're going to fall for anything."
Coach Jim Caldwell said he has no plans to personally reach out to the fans who were targeted in the racist post, but he said someone from the Lions organization will.
The Lions' next home game is against the Falcons on Sept. 24.
