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Eric Woodyard
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Players inside the Detroit Lions locker room took offense at an NFL Films video that was released, then deleted, on social media involving suspended safety Brian Branchclaiming it was overly critical.
Lions All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was stunned by the content about Branch that was posted as part of NFL Films’ “Turning Point” online series Thursday. The one-minute video was narrated by ESPN’s Louis Riddick and portrayed Branch in a negative light with a montage of lowlights from the Chiefs’ 30-17 win over the Lions on Sunday.
“I thought that video was crazy. I don’t know why it was released, the reasoning behind it,” St. Brown said. “As I was watching, I remember it popped up and I was like, ‘I don’t know if it was like a trick or mockery.’ I clicked the NFL, and I didn’t know if it was actually them. And it was. So I don’t know the reasoning why they posted it or what they got out of that.
“But Brian Branch is an awesome dude. In the building, he’s one of the nicest dudes. He’s quiet; you never see him really get mad. He’s always smiling. He made a mistake and he knows it and he apologized, and I don’t know why it’s still getting dragged along, but I don’t think that video was right.”
The NFL suspended Branch for one game without pay Monday for unsportsmanlike conduct after he struck Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and set off a brief fight at the conclusion of the game.
Branch’s one-game suspension was upheld upon appeal Wednesday.
Lions defensive lineman DJ Reader also said the video “seemed strange.”
“If you’re saying you don’t want to glorify something, you don’t want something in the game or this, that and the third, then why release this new video about it and it’s narrated and you’re literally highlighting plays over and over and over,” Reader said. “So, you’re shedding more light on it than the internet was over something that’s passed. If you’re trying to move on, then move on. It doesn’t seem like that’s what y’all was on.”
Reader was also shocked by the video’s narration and Riddick’s choice of words, which also received online backlash.
“Those things just kind of gives you more clarity in my mind to see how people really think and how they really feel about you,” Reader said. “As a player, how can you trust the [NFL] shield now? If y’all want to release this and this is how you’re shedding light on it. You’ve got to play for your organization, you trust them and the people you work, but as far as like the shield, people up there in New York? I can’t trust them.
“I can’t believe that they’re truly gonna have my back or they care about my safety or well-being. People who care about you don’t do that.”
Riddick released a statement on social media Friday saying that the intent of “Turning Point” is to document the events of a game good or bad and that there was never an attempt to intentionally cast Branch in a negative light.
“That being said, I can see how the short clip that was posted could be taken as an attempt to cast the #Lions or Brian Branch in a calculated, unfavorable manner,” the statement read. “I don’t want to be a part of that. I will be sure to make certain that anything that has my name attached to it will never again leave room for it to be interpreted that way in the future.”
The NFL also released a statement Friday about the clip and why it was deleted.
“We want all of our shows to have a distinct voice and point of view,” the statement read. “In the case of Turning Point, that voice and point of view is Louis Riddick’s. He spends time every week with the show’s producers, watching each segment and going over the script before narrating.
“That particular sequence felt different to us, as part of a nine-minute breakdown of the Lions-Chief’s game, than it did as a standalone excerpt on social media. On X, it felt overly critical to Brian, so we took it down.”
