Brown banned indefinitely

The National Football League have banned Cleveland star Orlando Brown indefinitely for shoving a referee to the ground on Sunday during the Browns' clash with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The National Football League have banned Cleveland star Orlando Brown indefinitely for shoving a referee to the ground on Sunday during the Browns' clash with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The 6ft 7in, 25st offensive lineman who was accidentally hit in the eye by a penalty flag reacted in frightening fashion, pushing Jeff Triplette to the pitch and then towering over the official menacingly before being restrained by team-mates.

Brown, whose father is blind, has been in hospital receiving treatment for an eye injury. Doctors have informed the player he may have permanent vision damage.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said: "We continue to hope Orlando Brown makes a full recovery from his injury. However, as everyone has acknowledged, the injury to the player was completely inadvertent and did not justify his action against the referee.

"It was an unfortunate accident but we cannot condone under any circumstances physical contact against our game officials."

The suspension could end up being very costly for the player who signed a six-year contract worth 27million US dollars (£16.5million) before this campaign.

Brown will lose 49,000 US dollars (£30,000) this season. If the suspension continues into the next campaign, when his yearly salary will increase, the player will lose 131,250 US dollars (£82,000) for every game he misses.