Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell was forced to sell his family’s suburban Detroit home after the family’s address was leaked online immediately following January’s NFC Championship Game loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Detroit News reports that Campbell’s home address was shared by one of his daughter’s high school classmates after the game, prompting angry fans to approach the home and angrily vent their frustrations over the loss.
“There were at least four police reports involving Campbell’s home,” Robert Snell of The Detroit News writes. “Starting with New Year’s Eve 2023 and continuing until days after the Lions blew a 17-point lead in the National Football Conference championship game in late January. The reports describe a series of unwanted visitors, phone calls and a social media post that shared his home address. The incidents scared Campbell’s teenage daughter, prompting the involvement of the Lions and National Football League security officials and raising long-term concerns from Campbell’s wife, Holly Campbell, about the family’s security.
“After the Jan. 28 loss to the 49ers, someone posted the Campbell family address on Snapchat and called the coach a “dumb f—.” The post was shared by one of the daughter’s male classmates.”
According to the report, the situation escalated after the Lions second-half collapse against the 49ers with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake.
While Dan Campbell and his wife were in San Francisco that night, the couple reportedly feared for the safety of their daughter, who was home watching the game that evening.
“Vehicles and people did show up outside their residence but did not necessarily enter the property,” an investigator wrote. “The boyfriend went outside in his vehicle and flashed his headlights at anyone approaching causing these people to turn off and leave.
“The Campbells were nervous for the safety of their daughter and instructed her to leave the home with her boyfriend for the evening,” the report continued. “I assured the Campbells that we would send a patrol unit to the home and extra-patrol it for the evening.”
Clearly, the actions that led to the Campbells being forced to sell their home are both a sad commentary on the state of society that someone would leak their address online as a taunt due to the result of a football game, and a reflection of the worst aspects of sports fandom.
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