The NFL said it took down a social media post that highlighted Brian Branch's rough game vs. the Chiefs because 'it felt overly critical.'
Dan Skipper got home from the Detroit Lions practice facility on Thursday, Oct. 16, plopped down on his toilet and opened his phone.
He saw a promotional video NFL Films sent out on social media, one for the show "Turning Point" that highlighted a rough game by safety Brian Branch that ended with a postgame altercation that led to his suspension for this week's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and thought to himself, "What the (expletive)?"
The since-deleted post on X incensed several of the Lions' most prominent veterans and team brass, who complained to the league's production arm.
The video, narrated by ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, showed Branch missing a tackle, having Patrick Mahomes spin the ball at his feet after a touchdown run and take a blindside block from Kansas City Chiefs receiver Juju Smith-Schuster – the play Branch said caused him to hit Smith-Schuster in the face in retaliation at the end of the game.
Skipper called it "a smear campaign against BB (Branch) from the shield" – the league – and posted a message on social media encouraging NFL Films to "go into a deeper dive" on some of the poor decision-making from players across the league that he has seen.
"That was my initial reaction," Skipper said. "And then I like, I got up and I was like, like five minutes later I was like, 'There's no (expletive) way.' Like, 'There is no way they actually posted (this).' And I get up and I start quote-tweeting it and it's like, press it and it won't deliver cause it's deleted. And then you're just like, 'These (expletive expletives)." Like, it's just, it's bad."
Lions defensive tackle DJ Reader said he took most offense to the terminology Riddick used to describe Branch's day and the fact the video was produced by an arm of the league.
In his script, Riddick said Branch "got burned" on a catch by Travis Kelce, "got showed up" by Mahomes and had "a long game" overall.
"Those things, it kind of gives you more clarity in my mind," Reader said. "You see how people really think and how they really feel about you. I think as a player, how can you trust the shield now? If y’all willing to release this and that’s how you shedding light on it?
"You got to play for your organization, you trust them, the people you work with, but as far as like the shield, people up there in New York, I can’t trust them. Can’t have them like – I can’t believe that they’re truly going to have my back or they care about my safety or well-being. Like they don’t – the people who care about you don’t do that."
Reader, Skipper and others said they were especially disappointed in Riddick, a former NFL player, for voicing the script.
Skipper called him "a piece of (excrement)" while Reader said, "I couldn't see myself being a former player saying the words that he said in a narration."
Riddick posted an apology on social media, writing he has "nothing but respect" for the entire Lions organization and saying the episode "didn’t come across the way it should have."
The NFL explained its decision to remove the post in a statement.
"NFL Films wants all of its shows to have a distinct voice and point of view," the statement read. "In the case of 'NFL 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 them. That particular sequence felt different to NFL Films as part of a 9-minute breakdown of the Lions-Chiefs game than it did as a standalone excerpt on social media. On X, it felt overly critical to Brian Branch so it was taken down."
Lions players took little solace in the removal of the post.
Cornerback Amik Robertson said, "I feel like it was kind of messed up.”
Linebacker Alex Anzalone, standing near Robertson's locker, said, "Kind of?"
And Skipper said, "Whoever pushed that should be ashamed, whoever thought we should really highlight this should be ashamed and Louis Riddick should certainly be ashamed."
"It was crazy," Robertson said. "You know what they say, it's Lions versus everybody. That's how I take it."
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions furious at NFL Films' 'smear campaign' vs. Brian Branch
Category: Football
