Brawl after game between Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions

After NFL game

Player hit in the face – a fight breaks out

In the NFL’s top game on Sunday, the Chiefs beat the Lions. After the game, the players say goodbye to each other – but suddenly a fight breaks out.

There was a fight in the American football league NFL on Sunday. After the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions (30:17), the players were saying goodbye to each other when Lions safety Brian Branch suddenly hit the Chiefs’ wide receiver, Juju Smith-Schuster, with an open hand but with full force against the faceplate of the helmet.

Smith-Schuster initially fell to the ground, but quickly got back up and charged at Branch. Both players then fought furiously with each other, and a large crowd quickly formed with players from both teams trying to separate the opponents from each other. The Chiefs’ superstar quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, also got involved.

Coach and players finally managed to separate the two brawlers and the situation calmed down again. However, Smith-Schuster suffered a bloody nose.

Branch later justified the hit by saying that Smith-Schuster had given him an illegal block during the game, which he believed could have injured him. He still regretted his hit: “It was childish, but I’m tired of people doing things between plays and the referees not seeing it,” he said. “They’re trying to take me down out there,” said Branch, but added: “I never should have done it. It was childish.”

Smith-Schuster said after the game that he was completely surprised by the action: “He’s a great player and he’s huge for their team,” he initially praised Branch. “After the game I expected to shake his hand and say ‘good game’. Then he struck.” Asked about the possible reason for Branch’s hit, he said: “Because I blocked it.” But he didn’t see any problem in his action: “I’m just doing my job.”

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was irritated by the action: “The guy came up and hit Juju for no apparent reason. That’s tough and he did quite a bit of damage to Juju’s nose.” Reid’s Lions counterpart, Dan Campbell, apologized: “I love Brian Ranch,” he said. “But what he did is inexcusable and we don’t accept that. We don’t do anything like that here.” He apologized to Reid, the Chiefs and Smith-Schuster.

Branch now faces a hefty fine and possibly even suspension.