Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid can be seen fiercely shoving two photographers aside in new footage of his team’s ugly brawl with the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.
After beating the Lions 30-17 at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs’ third win of the season ended in anarchy when a violent melee broke out between the two teams.
Lions defensive back Brian Branch was seen punching Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster after ignoring a handshake from Patrick Mahomes, before the Kansas City quarterback was accused of igniting the madness after footage emerged of him taunting the Detroit man earlier in the game.
And tempers flared to such a chaotic extent that even Reid, 67, was spotted losing his cool amid the madness at Arrowhead.
In a new video which has gone viral online, the four-time Super Bowl winner is seen ‘manhandling’ two photographers who got themselves right in the thick of the brawl to take some snaps.
Reid, who clearly didn’t want his players being photographed in such a heated moment, shoved the pair out of the way before heading over to try and defuse the situation.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid fiercely shoved two photographers aside during Sunday’s Lions brawl
Reid, 67, was trying to defuse the situation as tempers flared between both sets of teams
After the game, he revealed that Smith-Schuster was left with ‘pretty good damage’ following the punch in the face by Branch.
‘The guy came up and hit JuJu for what looked like no reason,’ Reid said. ‘That’s tough, and he did pretty good damage on JuJu’s nose.’
Branch said he had been goaded by Smith-Schuster and complained that referees also missed him getting hit from behind by the Chiefs star during the game.
‘I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the play and refs don’t catch it,’ Branch said. ‘They are trying to bully me out there. (I) Shouldn’t have done it. I got blocked in the back illegally, it was in front of the ref and the ref didn’t do anything.
‘Just stuff like that. I could have got hurt off the play. I still shouldn’t have done that. There was a lot of stuff but I shouldn’t have shown it and I apologize for that.’
Lions coach Dan Campbell condemned his player’s actions, telling reporters in his postgame press conference: ‘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 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.’
Lions star Brian Branch swung for the Chiefs’ Juju Smith-Schuster, sparking a massive brawl
Patrick Mahomes taunted Branch in the first half, before his handshake attempt was snubbed
Mahomes, who celebrated a touchdown by pointing at Branch and flexing his bicep at the end of the first half, was dismissive of the brawl when he was interviewed on the field once tempers had cooled down.
‘I mean, we play the game in between the whistles,’ he said, looking visibly unimpressed.
‘They can do all the extracurricular stuff they want to do. We will play the game in between the whistles.’
The NFL has already launched an investigation to determine who was at fault for the fight, with punishments likely in store for both sets of teams.
