An NFL player is planning to challenge his suspension after an altercation where he struck his opponent for mimicking the ‘Donald Trump gesture’.
During the game on Sunday, November 9, between the Detroit Lions and the Washington Commanders, emotions ran high following Donald Trump’s appearance, marking the first time in fifty years that a sitting president attended a regular-season NFL game.
The crowd at the stadium expressed their disapproval loudly, drowning out the President’s words with boos.
Amidst the game, Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown celebrated a touchdown by pointing upwards and performing Trump’s famous dance, despite the president having already departed.
“I heard Trump was going to be [here],” St Brown commented. “I don’t know how many times the president’s going to be at the game, so just decided to have some fun.”
However, what St. Brown saw as an amusing gesture did not sit well with Commanders’ Daron Payne, who retaliated by punching St. Brown after he completed the dance.
This incident occurred in clear view of the referee, leading to Payne’s ejection from the game.
Following this, Payne was handed a one-game suspension, which he plans to contest, as reported by John Keim from ESPN.
Appeals within the NFL are adjudicated by one of three hearing officers appointed by the league alongside the NFL Players Association.
Once the hearing is concluded, Payne will learn if he is permitted to join his team for the upcoming game against the Miami Dolphins in Madrid during game week 11.
After the game, St. Brown did not shy away from his role in the situation, telling reporters, “I mean, I think two plays before that, we got into a little scuffle, back and forth, whatever, this, that, and the other.
“And then we end up scoring, and I go up to him. I say a little something, nothing crazy, and then he decides to swing on me, so, I mean, it is what it is.”
Defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw has spoken out in Payne’s defense, criticizing the decision to eject him as ‘some bullsh*t’.
“Daron only retaliated because the refs literally saw the first punch,” he explained in the Washington locker room.
“I don’t blame him for the way he reacted,” Kinlaw continued. “Tempers got to flying, it is what it is, it’s a physical game.”