Dilfer said Joshua Pfeil insulted him in front of admirers and autograph seekers last summer and got up behind him as they stood in the patio area of the Around The Corner bar. Dilfer said he turned to face Pfeil, warned him to stop and reached out his arm to create space between them.

In an instant, Dilfer caught a fist to the left side of his face, he said.

"It was a good shot," he said. "It knocked me back to a certain degree and stung me pretty good."

Pfeil, 23, of Lakewood, faces a misdemeanor assault charge. He is on trial before Municipal Judge Patrick Carroll.

Pfeil's lawyer, Jeffry Kelleher, told the eight-person jury that they would hear conflicting accounts of the fracas, which took place about 1 a.m. on June 10, and that prosecutors had "charged the wrong man." Pfeil called to report the incident, according to a police report.

It was the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Dilfer who roughed up the barber college student, choking him and ripping his shirt, Kelleher said. Dilfer threw Pfeil, who is 6-feet-tall and about 150 pounds, into a spiral staircase and bar, Kelleher said.

Kelleher told jurors that his client did, however, do "a stupid thing with his mouth," when he mockingly and profanely told Dilfer he would have a bad 2005 season, his first with the Browns.

Lakewood bartender Alan Shaffer, Dilfer's teammate Jeff Faine and Lang Campbell, who tried out for the team but was released during training camp, also testified. The players and their teammates Aaron Shea and Mason Unck went to the bar to watch an NBA Finals game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons.

Witnesses said Shaffer restrained Dilfer and pulled him away after the quarterback took the hit.

Dilfer denied striking Pfeil but said he grabbed Pfeil's shirt before Shaffer stepped in.

Witnesses also said Pfeil bragged to bystanders as he was escorted from the bar that he was going to sue Dilfer.

Dilfer testified that he was expecting Pfeil to sue him, which is a concern for professional athletes.

"I'm sure it's coming," Dilfer said.

The trial resumes this morning.

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