Brian Branch was the focus of the latest NFL Turning Point show, but the footage was deleted following backlash, as it was highly critical of the Detroit Lions safety
23:08 ET, 17 Oct 2025
NFL Films deleted its latest NFL Turning Point show after facing backlash for exposing Brian Branch
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NFL Films deleted its latest NFL Turning Point show after facing backlash for exposing Brian Branch(Image: 2025 Cooper Neill)
NFL Films has issued a statement after releasing a detailed video focused on Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch, which was later deleted following heavy backlash on social media.
After the Lions lost 30-17 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6, a mass brawl broke out at Arrowhead Stadium after Branch landed a cheap blow on Juju Smith-Schuster. Branch was then suspended without pay for one game by the NFL, which upheld its ruling following an appeal.
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Branch apologized after the game, but claimed that his frustration stemmed from officials missing several penalties, including an instance where Smith-Schuster body-checked him in the fourth quarter. NFL Films attempted to provide context, but later deleted the footage.
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NFL Films partners with ESPN and produces a weekly NFL Turning Point show that focuses on a major storyline from each game week. For Week 6, NFL Films focused on Branch and showed him being beaten on defense several times while also missing tackles.
It then showed the brutal hit from Smith-Schuster, before the brawl broke out at the end of the game. The intention was to show the narrative from Branch's perspective, but fans claimed that it unfairly highlighted his poor performance and added insult to injury.
The video was narrated by ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, who commented on Branch's poor performance against the Chiefs. "He got showed up by (Patrick) Mahomes. He got juked by Xavier Worthy and took a shot from JuJu Smith-Schuster. The turning point led to Branch’s boiling point," Riddick said.
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NFL Films decided to take down the footage and issued a statement explaining the verdict. "NFL Films wants all of its shows to have a distinct voice and point of view,” a statement from NFL Films read.
"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."
Branch unleashed a strike at the head of Smith-Schuster at the end of the Chiefs game
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Branch unleashed a strike at the head of Smith-Schuster at the end of the Chiefs game(Image: AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Riddick then issued a statement on his personal X account. "The Detroit Lions organization is one that I have nothing but respect for," he wrote.
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"Ownership, Head Coach, General Manager, and players. Fast forward to this week, the ‘Turning Point’ episode that was voiced by me recently that covered the Chiefs/Lions game didn’t come across the way it should have.
"The intent is to collaboratively, as a group, document the events of game. Good and bad. There is NEVER an intent to do a “hit piece” on anyone or any team. That being said, I can see how the short clip that was posted could be taken as an attempt to cast the #Lions or Brian Branch in a calculated, unfavorable manner.
"I don’t want to be a part of that. 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."