Lions safety Brian Branch built a reputation during his first few years in the league, racking up over $100,000 in fines during his first three years in the league. He even had $23,186 taken out of his salary earlier this year.
He will likely see another pay cut – or even a suspension – for his actions at the end of the Lions’ loss to the Chiefs on Sunday night.
After Patrick Mahomes took a knee to end the game, the NBC broadcast showed Branch crossing the line of scrimmage and initially refusing to shake Mahomes’ hand. Then, Branch and receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster appeared to have a brief exchange before Branch hit Smith-Schuster in the face with an open hand.
This prompted running back Isiah Pacheco to come and grab Branch, pulling him away from Smith-Schuster. But that’s when a fight broke out, as the two teams approached to separate the players. Branch seemed to throw at least one more punch before things settled down.
“We play the game between the whistles,” Mahomes told NBC’s Melissa Stark in her postgame interview. “They can do whatever extracurricular activities they want. But we think we played a good game today and we’ll keep it going.”
Branch entered Sunday’s game in questionable fashion due to an ankle injury and finished the contest with seven total tackles.
We’ll see how the NFL decides to impose discipline following the incident.
