GREEN BAY – When Chris Salter arrived at his seat Sunday inside Lambeau Field, first row in the south end zone, the lifelong player Green Bay Packers One fan thought he might have an unforgettable experience.
Surveying the landscape, Salter recognized he had prime real estate to live his dream. Salter, a 41-year-old car dealership employee from Flint, Michigan, has attended “three or four games” at Lambeau Field every season since 2019. He usually sits 10 rows up in the north end zone, but Salter spent $1,000 on a secondary. -market ticket for the first row of section 133, seat 12.
He knew the place might give him a chance for his first Lambeau Jumpthe famous touchdown celebration where Packers the players jump into the stands. As Houston Texans Running back Joe Mixon approached after scoring a 2-yard touchdown in Sunday’s second quarter, pointing in Salter’s direction, that first Lambeau Leap took an unexpected turn.
“He kind of looked up,” Salter said, “and I told him, ‘Don’t do it.’ This isn’t my first Lambeau Leap. Don’t do it.
Salter didn’t just think about it.
The closer Mixon got to the stands, the louder Salter shouted. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Mixon decided to ignore the warning. There was a Texans fan sitting next to Salter. A safe spot for Mixon to potentially land, except Salter, a former bodybuilder, is built like a defensive lineman. “I’m a pretty strong guy,” he said. And he wasn’t going to let an opposing player do a Lambeau Leap.
Salter used all his strength, placing two hands on the visor of Mixon’s mask and pushing the ball carrier once, twice down the field, denying entry with a stiff, mean arm. He said there was “no bad intent” for Mixon. Salter has the Texans on his fantasy football team, which means when Mixon scored Sunday, so did he. “I love Mixon,” Salter said. “I really do it as a player.” Not enough to share a seat.
It is common for Packers supporters attempt to block opposing players in the stands for a Lambeau Leap. They rarely have the success of Salter.
“My first reaction,” Salter said, “was to keep him out of the stands. We’re going to protect the tradition. I think the Packers players should jump into the stands, and I don’t think the opposing players should jumping in the stands. I consider it team taunting. It’s no different than when they get a taunting penalty in the NFL, when they dance too much or throw a ball at someone. .That’s what I feel when they do that.
“That’s basically my mindset. It’s our tradition. It was right not to let this guy in here.
Mixon and Salter exchanged a few choice words. “It was on both sides,” Salter said. Sanitizing the language, Salter said the running back told him “you’re too small.” Salter replied, “But you didn’t invent it here.”
Before returning to the sidelines, Mixon said goodbye. Salter offered a middle finger in return. “I was pretty excited,” he said. Two Green Bay police officers quickly approached the area. An officer on the ground pointed out Salter, easily identifiable in his green and yellow jumpsuit.
Salter missed most of the second quarter after officers took him into the lobby for questioning. At first he thought his afternoon might be over. Salter said officers informed him he would be ejected from the game for making “forced contact” with a player. He protested his expulsion, saying the stadium provides no warning against fans stopping opponents from making the Lambeau Leap.
“He’s jumping in the seats I paid for,” Salter said, repeating his message to the officers. “I paid a lot of money for these seats. I’ve come a very long way to get to this match. Pushing the helmet of someone who is wearing full protection? I’m not in anything. I’m in overalls. I’m just trying to keep you out of the stands. I’m not trying to bully anyone.
An officer told Salter the incident escalated when a beer was thrown at Mixon, he said. Salter told the officer it was another fan who threw the beer. “It’s excessive force,” Salter said. “Don’t throw beer at people. It’s disrespectful. After taking Salter’s information and consulting with NFL game security, agents allowed him to return to his seat.
The fan that threw a beer was ejected, Salter said. The Packers confirmed the eviction of this fan.
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Salter’s return drew applause from Packers fans seated in section 133. He said fans bought him beers throughout the second half, but Salter drinks very little during games because he is an eight-hour drive from his home in Flint. He said no alcohol was consumed before his altercation with Mixon.
The officer’s last words to Salter were to “enjoy the game and relax,” he said. He hoped to go unnoticed in the second half, but that changed after kicker Brandon McManus made his 45-yard field goal as time expired in the fourth quarter. After briefly celebrating with his teammates on the field, McManus headed straight to the south end zone. Same corner Mixon tried to enter earlier.
Salter celebrated himself, jumping, congratulating and hugging other Packers fans in his section. “We’re all out of 10,” he said. As McManus approached, Salter turned to see the kicker pointing toward the stands, where he was sitting.
“I don’t know if it was a ‘Hey, we saw what happened,'” Salter said. “I’m not saying yes, but all the areas to run to. He’s kind of scoring points, and he runs right up to me and jumps on me, and the whole team comes. It’s just wild. I’m a little panicked, because I didn’t expect this to happen, but it was such a happy feeling. Like, dude. It’s a dream come true. That’s why I bought these seats. This is the experience I wanted.
“And it was almost like, man, I almost couldn’t enjoy it because they thought what I was doing was excessive, which it wasn’t.”
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The words were kinder when McManus jumped into Salter’s lap. In a delirious scream, the lifelong fan said, he welcomed the kicker signed last week to Green Bay. Salter entered Lambeau Field on Sunday hoping to make his first Lambeau Leap.
He made sure it was just one jump, not two.
This article was originally published on Packers News: Packers Fan Who Prevented Joe Mixon’s Lambeau Leap Shares His Story
