Pro Bowl Dodgeball Game Provides One of the Most Painful Highlights of NFL Season

Ouch.
Brian Branch is knocked out of the Pro Bowl dodge ball game. Painfully.
Brian Branch is knocked out of the Pro Bowl dodge ball game. Painfully. / @NF
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The NFL's best and brightest stars who aren't playing in the Super Bowl have gathered in Florida this week for the Pro Bowl games. On Thursday night, the action concluded with two games of dodgeball.

Unfortunately for Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch, dodgeball comes with its own risks, and during the first game Houston's Joe Mixon hit him right in the Pro Bowls.

While Branch wasn't actually hurt and was able to laugh about it afterwards, it still makes for an incredibly funny video.

To think that Branch would never have suffered this fate if the Lions had reached the Super Bowl. Instead, they were upset by the Washington Commanders in the divisional round and Branch was able to make the trip to Florida where he was destined to create a clip that will probably be referenced on ManningCasts from now until the end of time.

The lesson? Make sure you get to the Super Bowl so you don't get put in a position where someone can hit you in the groin with a bright yellow ball while a bunch of mascots stand behind you and snicker.


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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.