If the NFL genuinely wants to project fairness, it’s missing the mark in quite a significant way.
To start with, the league made a notable decision to intervene and nullify a touchdown that the Lions scored during last Sunday’s match against the Chiefs, despite the on-field officials not calling any penalties.
As if that wasn’t enough, the league decided to rub salt in the Lions’ wounds with a critical video from nfl movies.
This video, narrated by ESPN’s Lewis Riddick, harshly called out Lions safety Brian Branch.
Here are some of Riddick’s remarks featured in the video.
“It was a long day for Lions safety Brian Branch,” Riddick commented. “He got burned by [Travis] Kelce’s moves. Mahomes showed up. Juked by Xavier Worthy. And then he took a hit from JuJu Smith-Schuster…”
Even though Branch openly admitted to inciting a brawl in the final moments of the game, which resulted in a one-game suspension without pay, comments about teammates being “juked” and “burned” didn’t sit right with Lions coach Dan Campbell and team captain Amon-Ra St. Brown.
“I thought that video was out of line,” St. Brown remarked on Friday. “I don’t really understand why it was put out there. I recall watching it and wondering if it was some sort of mockery. I clicked on NFL, but I wasn’t sure if it was the actual NFL. So, I question the intent behind the release.”
“But you know, Brian Branch is a solid guy. One of the kindest people on the team. He’s pretty laid-back and rarely shows anger. He’s always upbeat. He made an error and knows it; he even apologized about it. It’s puzzling why this is still being dragged out, but I really don’t think that video was appropriate.”
“We always face challenges, and listen, he’s family,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell stated. “If someone goes after their brother, they’re going to respond. We’re a close-knit group, and I’ve said it before, Brian is a good guy. He’s facing the music for what happened, but he’s ready to move on to the game against Minnesota.”
Lions defenseman DJ Reeder took issue with Riddick, especially because he is a former player.
“The narration struck me as really unusual,” said Reeder. “Coming from a former player, I couldn’t believe he’d say what he did in the voice-over. It felt as if he hadn’t witnessed the game, whereas we could see everything unfold. We were observing how the people making the rules were influencing the game. YouTube is accessible; we can rewatch it all.”
“It’s always intriguing to me. I think these days, many people chase clicks, and that’s just how it is now,” he added.
Riddick later issued an apology for his remarks on his X account.
But it raises the question—why was that video even created? Where is the nfl movies video that covers Patrick Mahomes giving up a pick-six against Jacksonville? Seems they might have overlooked that one…
