Lakewood, Ohio ? Cleveland Browns quarterback Trent Dilfer testified that a man insulted him in front of fans in a bar last June and then punched him.

“It was a good shot,” said Dilfer, who is 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds. “It knocked me back to a certain degree and stung me pretty good.” Dilfer testified Wednesday in Joshua Pfeil’s misdemeanor assault trial in suburban Cleveland.

After Pfeil’s insult, Dilfer said he turned toward the 23-year-old man, warned him to stop and tried to distance himself from him. But Pfeil, 6-foot and 150 pounds, caught the player with a punch to the left side of his face, Dilfer said.

Pfeil’s lawyer said Dilfer sparked the fight on June 10. Dilfer ripped Pfeil’s shirt, choked him and threw him into a spiral staircase, attorney Jeffry Kelleher said. Dilfer said he grabbed Pfeil’s shirt but never hit him.