{"id":218523,"date":"2025-10-17T00:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T00:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/218523\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T00:21:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T00:21:09","slug":"nfl-films-deletes-brian-branch-video-that-amounted-to-hit-piece-on-lions-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/218523\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Films deletes Brian Branch video that amounted to hit piece on Lions safety"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Detroit Lions<\/a> safety Brian Branch was suspended for his inexcusable actions in the Week 6 game against the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a>, it’s almost impossible to view him as any kind of victim.<\/p>\n

However, in what is a “hold my beer” kind of moment, the NFL found a way to at least crack the door open for that.<\/p>\n

Of course, we know Branch was suspended by the NFL<\/a> for one game for his open-handed punch on Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, which sparked a postgame fight between the two teams.<\/p>\n

The suspension was no doubt warranted and nobody is crying any tears for the Lions safety, who had it coming to him after what he did.<\/p>\n

That said, NFL Films tweeted out a video on Thursday afternoon that featured a full breakdown of “Branch’s rough night that led up to his end of game actions,” and it featured a highlight package of all of Branch’s worst plays.<\/p>\n

This was done to shoot down Branch’s explanation for doing what he did and to make him look bad. It also looks like the NFL is trying to defend the Chiefs, which won’t help the commonly-held belief that the league and its officials favor them.<\/p>\n

Again, we are not excusing what he did, regardless of his explanation, we’re just trying to make sense of what the NFL is trying to do to Branch here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a little childish thing, but I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the play and refs don\u2019t catch it. They be trying to bully me out there and I don\u2019t \u2014 I shouldn\u2019t have did it. It was childish,”\u00a0Branch said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Based on the fact that NFL Films has since deleted the post, it’s clear the league realized this was done in very poor taste and never should have been posted.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, nothing is ever lost on the internet and Lions fans and analysts have kept the receipts so the NFL can’t run and hide from its blunder.<\/p>\n

Here’s the screenshot of the now-deleted post:<\/p>\n

Lmfaooo the @NFL<\/a> and @NFLFilms<\/a> ran and then subsequently deleted an entire smear campaign on Brian Branch\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

This is honestly pretty crazy how far they\u2019re going to try to show that they don\u2019t favor the Chiefs I\u2019ve other teams.<\/p>\n

How much are they paying you to slander a\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/5hv3M9AxBS<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Spencer Raxter (@Spenmorax) October 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

And here’s the now-deleted video:<\/p>\n

Nah, nah, nah. You don\u2019t get to put the toothpaste back in the tube, NFL.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s their weird-energy video insulting Brian Branch. pic.twitter.com\/8wkqibeHKB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) October 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

The NFL literally could have done nothing and everything would have been fine. The league just had to let Branch serve his suspension without a peep and all would’ve been forgotten.<\/p>\n

Instead, the league has now put attention back on the situation and has somehow managed to turn Branch into at least a somewhat sentimental figure after its unwarranted cheap shot.<\/p>\n

You can’t just make up how dumb this all is.<\/p>\n

More NFL News<\/p>\n