ALLEN PARK – The Detroit Lions’ locker room has taken exception to the NFL singling out one of their own.
Through its NFL Films X account, the league posted a “Turning Point” video on Thursday, narrated by analyst Louis Riddick, breaking down a series of events that were assumed to have led to the altercation between Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch and Kansas City receiver Juju Smith-Schuster.
In the video, Riddick pointed out several plays where the Chiefs got the best of Branch, including in coverage against Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes taunting him after a rushing touchdown.
The recap ended with Riddick pointing out the block in the back that Branch took from Smith-Schuster, which the defender said set him off in the first place.
Roughly seven hours after posting it, the account deleted the video from its feed. But not before Lions players like defensive lineman D.J. Reader and offensive lineman Dan Skipper had a chance to see it.
“I just thought it was a pretty weak move,” Skipper told MLive. “Obviously, they’re protected by the shield, so I can’t speak too much into it. I might already have received a letter — we’ll see. I’m going to try to avoid receiving a letter here in the future.
“Look, BB is one of our guys, so seeing the public just keep digging is — I think it’s some (expletive). I don’t know how many of the million people who saw it actually know BB. I know BB. So they’re going to do what they’re going to do at the end of the day. He’s one of us. He’s our guy. We got his back, and I think hypocrisy is going to be called out in the world.”
Reader was taken aback since it came from the league itself.
“I thought it was crazy — it is wild. You’ve got a video, you’re narrating it,” Reader said. “I just thought it was insane and just kind of classless from that game. There were so many other things you could have gone with. You could have gone on a Chiefs highlight and released that. It was weird — just kind of weird energy from the league. From the league that you say is supposed to protect your players and this, that, and the third — whatever you say about it. I just thought it was strange.”
Following the Lions’ 30-17 loss to the Chiefs, Branch shoved Smith-Schuster to the ground. The players were separated, and Branch ultimately received a one-game suspension, which he unsuccessfully appealed.
On his Friday show, ESPN’s Pat McAfee shared that he reached out to the NFL Films about the video. McAfee was told they not only felt the footage was overly critical of Branch, but it should never have been released in the first place, which led to its removal.
“Then why’d you make it?” Reader pondered. “Yeah, you made the video — you put it out. There’s no way you make the video, do all this stuff, and don’t see the editing. I get a spelling error — not a whole audio of this and that. I thought it was just crazy. But they always have their back.”
Added Reader: “I think as a player, like, how can you trust the shield on this? Like, if y’all are willing to release this and this is how you shed light on it, like, you got to play for your organization. You trust them, the people you work with, as far as, like, the shield people up there. I can’t trust them. Can’t have them. Like, I can’t believe that they truly going to have my back or they care about my safety or well being. Like, they don’t. No, people who care about you don’t do that.”
The NFL released a statement Friday about the clip, and its removal from social media:
“NFL Films wants all of its shows to have a distinct voice and point of view. 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.”
Along with the creation of the video itself, a big part of Reader’s disdain was Riddick’s attachment to it as a narrator, being he’s a six-year NFL veteran.
“I couldn’t see myself as a former player letting them get me to do that — to speak on it that way, knowing the words that are truly coming out. It’s just not the time. It’s not important. That was the thing — it wasn’t important. You say you don’t want to glorify it or bring it on, but it happened on national television, alright? But now you’re going back and bringing it up — it’s just crazy.”
Riddick issued a statement via social media on Friday afternoon, clarifying his respect for the Lions, Sheila Ford Hamp and general manager Brad Holmes. The ESPN analyst and former player said the video featuring his voiceover “didn’t come across the way it should have.” Riddick said there is never an intent to do a “hit piece,” but admitted he sees how it was taken the way it was concerning Branch.
“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,” Riddick concluded.
After his initial comments, more reporters approached Reader for clarification.
“Like, does he not hear himself?” Reader said. “Especially when he played the game. These guys get up there like they didn’t play before, and we didn’t get to watch them play. We watched these guys who make all these rules (sit) on the committee’s play, and we see what y’all did. It’s always interesting and funny to me. A lot of people do stuff for clicks now. It’s just what the world has come to today. So it is what it is.”
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