Two days after a post-game confrontation with a fan, Packers safety Nick Collins apologized to his team and fans for attracting negative attention.
“This is a situation that I could have walked away from but, you know, heat of the moment,” Collins said. “Things happen. Both sides [were] out of line.”
Collins wouldn’t go into details about what the fan said, but he didn’t contradict a WITI-TV report that said the fan spit and used a racial slur.
“You know, it’s going to happen,” Collins said. “I’m probably not the only guy that’s been in that situation before. It happens. I’m a professional. I’ve got to be a bigger person and keep walking.”
It didn’t sound like he needed to apologize to his teammates.
“The fans are taking it too far,” wide receiver Donald Driver said. “This is a game where we go out here and we try to have fun playing it. I think the fans are taking it too far when they start talking about you, your family. They don’t know your family.”
“I think fans sometimes forget we’re human,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.
The NFL and Bears officials are continuing to look into the incident.