On one hand, Lions safety Brian Branch has willingly accepted responsibility for the behavior that sparked a postgame brawl on Sunday night against the Chiefs. On the other hand, Branch will not willingly accept the punishment the NFL has imposed.

Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Branch has appealed his one-game suspension.

Branch has the right to do so. And he has a reason to do so — seventy-six thousand of them. (At a 2025 salary of $1.379 million, he makes $76,611 per week.)

Precedent is on Branch’s side. In the 2012 playoffs, former Washington tackle Trent Williams struck former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman in the face. Williams was fined only $7,871 . Three years ago, then-Raiders receiver Davante Adams was neither fined nor suspended for shoving a worker to the ground

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