Alex Anzalone called it "ridiculous." DJ Reader called it "dumb -- but they're gonna do what they do." The NFL shared a video Thursday night on X that shined a harsh light on Brian Branch and his performance in the Lions' loss to the Chiefs last Sunday, then deleted it after widespread backlash from fans and players alike. The clip was from this week's episode of the NFL Films show Turning Point that focused on the Lions-Chiefs game.
Branch, who was suspended one game by the NFL for his shot at JuJu Smith-Schuster as the teams converged on the field after the game, was spotlighted in the video for the fact that he "got burned by Kelce ... got showed up by Mahomes ... got juked by Xavier Worthy and took a shot from JuJu Smith-Schuster," as voiced by ESPN football analyst and former NFL player Louis Riddick. "The turning point led to Branch’s boiling point."
"They're gaslighting him," Anzalone said Friday. "I don’t even understand why they would narrate with those words, and then they posted that goal-line play and it wasn’t even on him. I don’t know what it was for, but Louis Riddick and the league, I don’t know why he would agree to do that or why they posted that."
The video highlighted the aforementioned plays at Branch's expense despite the fact that Mahomes could have been flagged for taunting after pointing in Branch's direction, dusting himself off and flexing his arms after his rushing touchdown in the second quarter: "If it’s a point of emphasis (for the NFL), it should be a taunting penalty," Anzalone said.
And despite the fact that Smith-Schuster could have been flagged (and might be fined) for illegally blocking Branch in the back: "That’s a personal foul," said Anzalone. Branch, while admitting that his decision to retaliate later was "childish," said that Smith-Schuster's cheap shot, and the fact that it went uncalled, contributed to his actions after the game.
Branch's teammates are clearly upset with the NFL. A couple of them came to his defense on X when the video was first posted, including Reader and offensive lineman Dan Skipper.
Skipper tagged NFL Films and said, "Y'all wanna post a bunch of BS and then won’t stand on business? Feel free to go into a deeper dive in some of the other storylines," after a game in which the Chiefs became the first NFL team in the past two seasons to go a full game without getting called for a single accepted penalty.
Reader posted that "folks will always coon for clicks," then noted that it was "convenient" when the video was taken down. A 10-year vet and one of the NFL's most well-liked players, Reader was even more outspoken in the locker room Friday. He said he was "pissed" when he saw the video Thursday night.
"Then I hear Louis Riddick narrating it and I’m like, does he not hear himself? ... I couldn’t see myself being a former player saying the words that he said, especially when he played the game," said Reader.
The NFL came down hard on Branch for his shot at Smith-Schuster, telling him this week in a public letter, "You conduct reflected poorly on the NFL and has no place in our game." A few days later, the league drew more attention to it. The contradiction was clear. As Reader put it, "You’re saying you don’t want to glorify something, you don’t want something in your game, then why release a new video about it and it’s narrated and you’re highlighting plays over and over and over?"
For Reader, watching the video was actually an illuminating experience -- "because now I know I gotta steer clear of certain people," he said. "I don’t know that I’ll ever have a conversation with Louis Riddick or somebody like that ever again. Like, for what? You’re gonna take it and spin it the way you want to."
"Those things, it gives you more clarity, in my mind. 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?" Reader said. "If you're all willing to release this and this is how you shed light on it, like, you gotta play for your organization, you trust them, the people you work with. But as far as 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 wellbeing. People who care about you don’t do that."
Riddick spent eight years in the NFL as a player, then 13 more in various front office roles with Washington and Philadelphia. He's been an analyst with ESPN for several years, during which time he also interviewed for the Lions' general manager vacancy in 2021 that went to Brad Holmes. Riddick has also interviewed for and failed to land GM jobs with the Texans, Steelers, and Jets.
Reader doesn't have any prior relationship with Riddick but reiterated, "I can’t trust that guy. That ship’s sailed, man. And I’m sure he probably doesn’t want to have one with me, so we’re square business."
The longer he's played in the NFL, said Reader, the more he's realized "how much of a business it is. And the only people who are really going to care about you is your organization and the people you’re around." Asked if he felt the video is something that might happen to the Lions but not one of the league's more glamorous teams like the Chiefs, Reader said, "I just don’t think it’s something that should happen to anybody."
"I don’t think the lowlights of what players got going on should ever be highlighted. Because if that’s the case, you could do that with anybody. There’s always going to be something that happens. But they don’t do that. They (usually) try to focus on the positives, which I think you should if you represent the business end, the organization, or the whole conglomerate. I don’t think you should be shining a light on negative things as often as they do."
The NFL made a statement Friday about the video and the decision to take it down, via The Athletic. As Reader said, "I guess they feel like it’s gone now because it’s deleted. But we all know the internet doesn’t work that way."
The statement read:
“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."