Per multiple reports, the NFL is suspending Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch for one game after he started a fight following the team’s 30-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan offered the following statement, per Ian Rapoport:
“Your aggressive, non-football act was entirely unwarranted, posed a serious risk of injury, and clearly violated the standards of conduct and sportsmanship expected of NFL players. Your conduct reflected poorly on the NFL and has no place in our game.”
The suspension could be appealed by Branch, but there have been no indications if he plans to do so. If Branch does not appeal or loses an appeal, he will miss the Lions’ Week 7 “Monday Night Football” game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’d be eligible to return to the team on Tuesday, October 21, during the Lions’ bye week.
Branch, after feeling slighted during the game when Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster blocked him aggressively in the back, took a swing at Smith-Schuster after the receiver approached him after the game. After that, the two chased each other, and Branch ended up tossing the Chiefs receiver to the ground via his facemask, as the two teams converged to pull the two apart.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Branch’s actions had no place in this league.
“I love Brian Branch, but what he did was inexcusable,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said after the game. “It’s not going to be accepted here. It’s not what we do. It’s not what we’re about. I apologize to Coach (Andy) Reid and the Chiefs and Schuster. That’s not okay. That’s not what we do here, and it’s not going to be okay. He knows it, our team knows it. That’s not what we do.”
Branch expressed both his regret and frustration after the game, as well.
“I did a little childish thing, but I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the plays, and refs don’t catch it. They be trying to bully me out there, and I don’t even—I shouldn’t have did it. It was childish.”
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