After the final whistle had been blown in the Detroit Lions vs. Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday night, Lions safety Brian Branch and Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster appeared to have words when Batch lashed out and hit Smith-Schuster which sparked a brawl between both teams.
Citing unsportsmanlike conduct, the NFL has suspended Branch for one game.
In a letter to Branch, the NFL VP of football operations Jon Runyan said, “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.”
According to Ian Rappoport of the NFL Network, Branch has appealed the ruling.
Speaking to reporters after the game Lions head coach Dan Campbell said, “let me start with this. I love Brian Branch, but what he did is inexcusable and it’s not going to be accepted here. It’s not what we do, it’s not what we’re about. I apologized to coach [Andy] Reid and the Chiefs and Schuster. That’s not OK. That’s not what we do here, and it’s not gonna be OK. He knows it, our team knows it. That’s not what we do.”
Branch has also apologized for his actions saying, “I did a real childish thing. I’m tired of people doing stuff in between plays and refs don’t catch it. They be trying to bully me out there. I shouldn’t have did it, it was childish.”
In the six weeks of the 2025 NFL season, Branch has already been fined three times for his behaviour. He was fined a total of seven times during the 2024 season.