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On Thursday, NFL Films dropped its latest episode of NFL Turning Point, the weekly series that dissects the biggest moments from around the league. But this week, it wasn’t the football analysis that made headlines. It was a now-deleted video centered around Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch, and the way it painted him in a negative light.
The short clip, posted to social media to promote the full episode airing on ESPN, featured analyst Louis Riddick breaking down Branch’s “rough night” against the Kansas City Chiefs, the same game that ended with Branch’s controversial postgame altercation and subsequent one-game suspension. The tone of the video, though, struck a nerve with fans.
Instead of focusing on football or context, many felt the clip crossed the line, mocking Branch and amplifying his mistakes rather than analyzing them. Within hours, the backlash was overwhelming. Detroit fans, writers (including Detroit Sports Nation), and even NFL players like Dan Skipper took to social media, calling out NFL Films for what they viewed as an unnecessary and biased hit piece.
By Thursday night, NFL Films quietly deleted the post from its social channels. But as we all know, the internet never forgets.
The Fallout
On Friday, NFL Films released a statement to explain why the video was quickly pulled from social media.
Here’s the official statement they released on Friday:
“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.”
The Big Picture
For Brian Branch, this whole saga adds yet another layer to a chaotic week. After having his suspension upheld by hearing officer Jordy Nelson, Branch was already the center of attention. Now, the league’s own media arm has seemingly piled on, and the Lions fan base isn’t letting it go.
Detroit has built its identity around resilience, grit, and an “us against the world” mentality. So when the NFL or its partners take shots at one of their own, fans take it personally. And after this latest controversy, it’s fair to say the relationship between the Lions and the league office feels more strained than ever.
The Bottom Line
The decision by NFL Films to publish, and then delete, a video targeting Brian Branch is a glaring misstep from a company that prides itself on storytelling and professionalism. The fact that it required public outrage to take the clip down only underscores how disconnected the league’s media wing can be from the pulse of its fan base.
Branch may serve his suspension and move on, but this incident isn’t going away anytime soon. It’s yet another reminder that in the NFL’s media machine, perception is everything, and once the fans turn, even the league’s most polished PR can’t spin its way out.
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Don Drysdale
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