CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The San Francisco 49ers picked the wrong team to pick a fight with.
Hours after a brawl broke out between the teams 40 minutes before kickoff, the Cleveland Browns ended up stunning the 49ers and handing them their first loss of the season, 19-17 thanks to a last second field goal being pushed wide right.
Watch the skirmish in the video above.
“We don't want that,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “That's not something that we're looking to do, try to get in the middle of it, get the guys out of there. But it's football. Emotions run high.”
49ers receiver Deebo Samuel and left tackle Trent Williams were among the instigators for San Francisco and Browns safety Juan Thornhill and receiver Elijah Moore got caught up in the melee.
“I'm going to stand on my ground. I fear no man,” Thornhill said. “I'll say that every time. I don't care how big he is, who he is. It doesn't matter to me. I'm a fighter forever.”
The Browns objected to the 49ers getting in the way of their warmup drills near midfield. Some chirping between the two teams quickly escalated into a melee.
“I kind of came in the middle of the play, so to speak,” receiver Amari Cooper said. “I just saw guys scuffling. That happens from time to time on the football field. I don't know how it started, but it's just a part of it. A-Walk, one of the captains of the team, he took it as disrespect. I think they were just staring at us or something like that. So yeah, that definitely served as an impetus for us to go out there and get the dub, 100%.”
As Thornhill and Samuel shoved each other, Williams ran in and blew up Browns receiver Elijah Moore, knocking Moore’s helmet off. Officials raced in to separate the teams and restore order.
“I mean, that s*** turned me up,” Moore, who admitted he did not realize in the moment what happened, said.
Williams kept running around looking to fight anyone in all white, and not surprisingly he was unable to find any takers.
The Browns, who came into the game with practice squad quarterback P.J. Walker as their starter and were huge underdogs, used it as a rallying call.
“Don’t poke the bear,” cornerback Martin Emerson Jr., who intercepted 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, said. “Don’t get us started. We’re a very physical team and we’re in the Dawg Pound. We want to defend our home turf.
“We don’t take any disrespect. Disrespect won’t be tolerated, not on our home turf. Not anywhere and we responded.”
Browns cornerbacks Greg Newsome and Denzel Ward along with linebacker Anthony Walker all had to be restrained by officials and coaches to prevent the fight from spreading.
“We don't allow disrespect coming into our house,” running back Kareem Hunt said.
While the pushing and shoving heated up, 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk really tried to agitate Newsome.
“I honestly had my headphones on, so I didn't really see what he said,” Newsome said. “I just knew he just kind of started dancing in my face. I came to the locker room, told the boys and it was on from there.”
After the teams were separated and they completed their initial round of warm ups, the officials stood on the near sideline near the 49ers tunnel to separate the two teams and prevent a flare up.
Thornhill stood next to the officials and appeared to bark in the direction of the 49ers as they headed to their locker room while Williams and defensive end Myles Garrett hugged.
While no players were penalized or ejected before the game, fines from the league office are likely forthcoming.
“Of course you're thinking about [penalties or ejections],” Stefanski said. “But maybe I'll get a phone call [Monday].”