New York Giants cornerback Rico Payton apparently pulled an Albert Haynesworth during Sunday’s game.
Payton sparked a brawl during his team’s matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders after an incident with Raiders counterpart Chigozie Anusiem. In the middle of a second-quarter special-teams sequence at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., Payton and Anusiem got tangled and ended up wrestling with each other into the Giants sideline.
The two players began brawling after Payton pushed Anusiem deep into the sideline towards some Gatorade coolers, and several Giants players in the area also got involved. Here is the broadcast video.
Things got physical on the sideline between Chigozie Anusiem and Rico Payton pic.twitter.com/thI7xcN6vx
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 28, 2025
On Tuesday though, a fan-shot video surfaced from the stands near where Payton and Anusiem were fighting. The video showed that Payton stomped on the head and helmet area of Anusiem while Anusiem was down on the ground. Payton seemingly managed to make contact with Anusiem’s facemask area in the clip.
You can see that video at the link here (but beware of the bad language).
The Giants went on to defeat the Raiders by a final score of 34-10. With the former now at 3-13 on the season and the latter at 2-14, that puts the Raiders in pole position to secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
With one game left in the regular season for each team, it seems very likely that both Payton and Anusiem (who was seen throwing punches too) will be facing discipline from the NFL over the brawl. It was also a weekend of bad behavior in the league overall as Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter was caught pulling a dirty move on an opponent as well.
