NFL went too easy on Lions' Brian Branch with suspension for starting fight with Chiefs

The NFL announced on Monday that Detroit Lions defensive back Brian Branch has been handed a one-game suspension without pay for unsportsmanlike conduct. The 23-year-old started a massive post-game scuffle upon the conclusion of the Kansas City Chiefs' 30-17 win over Detroit on Sunday Night Football.

Branch walked up to Chiefs wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster as time was expiring and threw a punch, claiming it was out of frustration for Smith-Schuster and other Kansas City players tying to "bully" him.

"It was childish," he told reporters after the game.

Branch claimed Smith-Schuster blocked him illegally in the back earlier in the fourth quarter and it didn't get called. Video evidence after the fact does apparently show that to be the case, but it doesn't excuse his actions.

Brian Branch got off easy with just a one-game suspension from the NFL

"I love Brian Branch but what he did is inexcusable. And it's not gonna be accepted here," Lions head coach Dan Campbell told reporters in his post-game press conference. It's unclear if Branch will receive any further punishment from the team in addition to what he's facing from the league.

Either way, missing just a single game for such a deliberately violent action seems to be a rather light sentence, especially with his history of being fined previously.

Branch has had to pay out more than a dozen fines in his first two seasons as an NFL player, seven of them during the 2024-25 campaign alone.

Granted, this is the first time Branch has been suspended by the league but giving him the benefit of the doubt with just a single game sentence after this kind of incident sets a bad precedent for other young players with potential discipline issues.

I'm not saying he should be missing as many games as Jordan Addison (3 games) or Rashee Rice (6 games) did but multiple contests missed would've sent a strong message. What Branch did has not place in the NFL or football in general.