KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It was over…and then it wasn’t.
Branch, the Detroit Lions safety, wanted payback after he felt the Kansas City Chiefs receiver blasted him with an illegal block in the back that went uncalled. He connected with a blow that landed under the facemask and left Smith-Shuster bleeding from a gash on his nose.
“I did a little childish thing,” Branch told USA TODAY Sports after the Chiefs snapped Detroit’s four-game winning streak with a 30-17 decision. “But I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the plays and the ref don’t catch it, trying to bully me out there.
“But I should’ve never did it. It was childish.”
The blow set off a tense postgame scene as several players from both teams entered the fray before order was quickly restored.
Who knew that NBC’s ‘Sunday Night Football’ would come with a layer of ‘Fight Night’? OK, thankfully it wasn’t an all-out brawl.
But the score is hardly settled. Branch will undoubtedly face discipline as the NFL reviews the incident. And his record of violations won’t help. Branch, one of the league’s best safeties, has already been fined three times in 2025 after being fined seven times last season.
Told of the contrition that Branch expressed in the visitor’s locker room, Smith-Schuster defended his actions during the game.
“I made a good block,” Smith-Schuster told USA TODAY Sports. “He obviously responded after the game. At the end of the day, it’s about the team win.”
Branch’s temper seemed poised to flare after he refused to shake Patrick Mahomes’ hand after the final play, which is a typical sportsmanship gesture at the end of games. As Mahomes extended his hand, Branch blew him off. It appeared that Smith-Schuster noticed the snub and made a taunting gesture.
Then came the strike, as Branch made a beeline toward Smith-Schuster. Then the Chiefs receiver went after Branch, who was restrained by running back Isiah Pacheco. Several bodies hit the turf as tempers boiled.
In any event, Branch drew the ire of Lions coach Dan Campbell, which is probably a harbinger of the message coming from the league office.
“I love Brian Branch, but what he did is inexcusable and it’s not going to be accepted here,” Campbell said as he opened his postgame news conference. “It’s not what we do. It’s not what we’re about.”
Campbell said he apologized to Chiefs coach Andy Reid and to Smith-Schuster.
“That’s tough,” Reid said. “But pretty good damage to JuJu’s nose.”
Branch, in the end, also expressed regret.
“I got blocked in the back illegally,” he said. “It was in front of the ref and the ref didn’t do anything. Just stuff like that. I could’ve gotten hurt off that. I still shouldn’t have done that.”
Asked if he felt the Chiefs tried rubbing it in, Branch added, “It was a lot of stuff. But I should’ve shown it between the whistles. Not after the game. I apologized for that.”
Smith-Schuster, an eighth-year veteran, acknowledged that there was “chatter” with Branch during the game, but he didn’t consider it unusual. He said that Sunday marked the first time in his career that an opponent ever threw a punch at him.
“I feel like I’m a good guy,” he said.
Smith-Schuster caught three passes for 57 yards and had the game’s longest play from scrimmage with a 30-yard catch-and-run.
“At the end of the game,” he added, “I expected to shake his hand and say, ‘Good game.’ But he thew a punch.”
He chalked up Branch’s reaction was frustration with the game’s outcome, rather than a personal issue. That might be debatable, but that’s the receiver’s view of the matter.
“Me, just blocking him, I was just doing my job,” Smith-Schuster said. “I play between the whistles and after the game, he took advantage (with) what he did.”
Of course, Smith-Schuster didn’t mind expressing a parting shot…or a nod to the respect that he has for one of Detroit’s top players.
“I know he’s a better player than that, a better person,” he said. “He’ll learn from his mistakes.”