Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has developed into one of the better pass-catchers in the NFL. But even he isn’t immune to the league’s punishments.
Last week, in Detroit’s 44-22 win over Washington, St. Brown caught five passes for 58 yards and a touchdown, but controversy overshadowed the night. He celebrated with the ‘Trump Dance‘ in front of Donald Trump, drew criticism, and was later ejected after an altercation with Daron Payne.
What Punishment Did Amon-Ra St. Brown Receive for His Altercation With Daron Payne?
Payne punched St. Brown after a Lions touchdown and was ejected and suspended. Although St. Brown was not penalized during the game, the NFL later fined him after reviewing his actions and seeing that he smacked the facemask of Payne.
“The NFL fined Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown $12,172 for unnecessary roughness – smacking the facemask of Daron Payne, who later retaliated by punching St. Brown, earning an ejection and one-game suspension,” reports the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
While the fine was not hefty, St. Brown was unhappy. On the podcast he hosts with his brother, Equanimeous, St. Brown Podcast, he explained his reaction during the altercation. He described responding to Payne’s bump and shared his perspective on the escalation that followed.
“I’m like ‘What the f***?’ so I hit (Payne) and he starts talking s***,” St. Brown said. “And then I hit him again, and I accidentally hit him in – I didn’t even mean to jab him in the face, I just mean to like push him off, and it so happened that I hit him in the face. And at that point I was like ‘Damn, I shouldn’t have done that.’ Probably a flag, whatever. Ref was standing right there. He didn’t throw the flag, so that’s that.”
The NFL fined Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown $12,172 for unnecessary roughness — smacking the facemask of Daron Payne, who later retaliated by punching St. Brown, earning an ejection and one-game suspension.
Here’s the initial incident from Payne’s IG:
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 15, 2025
After the Lions scored again, St. Brown was punched by Payne, leading to Payne’s ejection.
“I’m walking back to the sideline and he’s standing there and I’m just talking s***, regular football s*** talk, nothing crazy, nothing that you’d be like, ‘Oh yeah, I deserved a punch,’” St. Brown explained.
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“I don’t even remember what I said. It was in the moment. And then he didn’t say anything, he just wound back and punched me. Honestly, I didn’t even expect it. It happened so fast. I did not expect that a 300-pound dude was about to slap the s*** out of me. That has never happened to me in my life. I was just shocked.”
With 64 receptions for 693 yards and eight touchdowns so far, he is again on pace to surpass 100 catches this year.
Up next, St. Brown and the Lions will travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles on Sunday Night Football. He’s helped the Lions to a PFSN Offense Impact score of 85.8, good for seventh-best in the league. One can expect more of the same from him. The kickoff is at 8:20 p.m. ET, with coverage on NBC and Peacock.
