The Detroit Lions open the regular season in an NFC North clash with the Green Bay Packers and there are plenty of storylines heading into Sunday’s game. While Micah Parsons, who is dealing with a back injury shortly after getting traded to Green Bay last week, will have everyone’s attention, Lions fans may be focused on the presence of referee Clete Blakeman.
Blakeman is entering his 15th season as a referee and anyone who has been doing the job this long is sure to anger some fan bases. But Lions fans have a few gripes in particular with Blakeman who has been assigned as the referee for Sunday’s matchup at Lambeau Field.
Clete Blakeman Refereeing Lions-Packers Has Detroit Fans Seething
According to a 2024 article by Yahoo’s Jason Owens and Jack Baer, the issues between Blakeman and the Lions began during an Oct. 2019 matchup against the Packers at Lambeau Field. The Lions jumped ahead in that game 22-13 when Blakeman came to Green Bay’s rescue, calling a pair of illegal hands to the face calls on defensive end Trey Flowers.
The first offense came on a 3rd-and-10 play where Flowers was holding Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari’s shoulder pads but Blakeman called the penalty anyway. The play kept Green Bay’s drive alive and the Packers responded three plays later with an Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass to Allen Lazard.
With the deficit cut to 22-20, the Packers began to move on a game-winning drive when Flowers was called for illegal hands to the face again despite grabbing Bakhtiari’s shoulder pads with 1:45 to play. The play would have forced Mason Crosby to kick a field goal on a 4th-and-4 but the call gave Green Bay another automatic first down allowing the Packers to run down the clock and allow Crosby to kick the game winner. Videos posted by Warren Sharp made the egregious mistakes obvious.
Lions fans weren’t happy with the result then and things went downhill from there. Blakeman was the referee during the 2024 NFC Championship Game and while he didn’t make an egregious mistake, Detroit blew a 24-7 halftime lead on the doorstep of the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
Blakeman also refereed a Thanksgiving 2022 game against the Buffalo Bills (lost 28-25) and an October 2023 game against the Las Vegas Raiders (won 26-14). But while officials can make a million good calls, it’s the bad ones that can leave fans fuming.
With the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears playing on Monday night, Sunday’s game will decide who will claim a share of the NFC North lead after Week 1. With the Packers and Lions likely to battle for a division title, it’s a risk that no one wants to take and could have Detroit down a game if Blakeman revises his controversial history.