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Matt LaFleur and Arthur Smith: A Three-Act Play

The coaches of the Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons have exchanged vanity barbs this week.
Bill Huber|
Matt LaFleur and Arthur Smith: A Three-Act Play
Matt LaFleur and Arthur Smith: A Three-Act Play

GREEN BAY, Wis. – In 2018, Matt LaFleur was in his one and only season as the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator. That was Arthur Smith’s eighth year on the Titans’ staff and fourth as tight ends coach.

The two obviously hit it off. LaFleur, in his third season as the Green Bay Packers’ coach, and Smith, in his first season as the Atlanta Falcons’ coach after replacing LaFleur the previous two years, have exchanged good-natured barbs about their vanity this week.

Their war of words started on Tuesday, with Smith launching the opening salvo.

LaFleur issued his response after Wednesday’s practice. (The full answer is in the video.)

“I might have been looking in the mirror, getting my clothes right while he was trying to get his hair right with that Just For Men,” LaFleur said.

Later on Wednesday, Smith offered his rebuttal. And it included potential allegations of black shoe polish.

“It obviously took him all night to think of something that he thought was funny,” Smith said. “I’ve been going gray since 20. I don’t look like I’ve got black shoe polish in my hair, so, go figure. But, no, I love Matt LaFleur. He’s one of my good friends in the business and he’s done a hell of a job up in Green Bay. … But again, (the rebuttal) did take him a day.”

The Packers do not play the Falcons this season and are not scheduled to in 2022, either, unless they finish in the same spot in their division standings.

For the record, Smith turned 39 in May while LaFleur will turn 42 in November.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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