Brian Branch’s “inexcusable” act results in suspension

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Detroit Lions 30-17 on Sunday Night Football, but the end of the game was marred by an altercation between the players. Lions safety Brian Branch first snubbed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes when he tried to high-five him after the game.

Then, Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster walked up to him to shake his hand (and potentially confront the snub), and Branch landed an open-handed punch to Smith’s face, starting a brawl on the sidelines.

Brian Branch facing disciplinary action for postgame brawl

Now, Branch will face disciplinary action from the NFL. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported that there would be “at the very least, significant fines and very possibly a suspension."

It turns out, he was right. Branch will be suspended without pay for one game.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell called the act “inexcusable” and “unacceptable” and publicly apologized to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.

“I love Brian Branch, but what he did was inexcusable,” Campbell said. “It’s not going to be accepted here. It’s not what we do. I apologize to coach (Andy) Reid and the Chiefs and Schuster. That’s not OK. That’s not what we do here, and it’s not going to be OK. He knows it, our team knows it. That’s not what we do.”

With the incident taking place on national television, the NFL’s decision is expected to draw extra scrutiny. The loss of Branch, one of Detroit’s key defenders, could make it even harder for the Lions to rebound after their loss to Kansas City.

Branch responds after altercation with Smith

Branch, for his part, admitted he shouldn’t have punched Smith, calling it “childish”, but insists he was “bullied” by the Chiefs players.

“I did a little childish thing, but I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the play… and refs don’t catch it. They were trying to bully me out there. I shouldn’t have done it, it was childish,” said Branch.

“I got blocked in the back illegally, and it was in front of the ref, but the ref didn’t do anything. And just stuff like that. And I could’ve gotten hurt off of that. But I still shouldn’t have done that... I apologize for that.”

Smith acknowledged the punch, but didn’t say much on it - just said he was happy to get the win.

“He’s a great player, right? He’s huge for the team. I think after the game, I expect to shake his hand and say, ‘Good game’ and move Pat’s way. But he threw a punch, and at the end of the day, it’s a team sport, right? We came out here. We did our job. We won. And that’s all that matters.”

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