By Blessing 
The Detroit Lions’ fiery safety Brian Branch has been at the heart of a heated debate among NFL and Lions fans after his ejection from a wild Sunday night showdown in Kansas City. The young star’s role in a postgame scuffle has sparked outrage, with teammates Alim McNeill and Dan Skipper voicing their frustration in recent days, rallying behind their sidelined brother.
Branch was tossed from the game for striking Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and later hit with a one-game suspension, forcing him to miss the Lions’ Monday night clash against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home. The incident left fans buzzing, but the controversy didn’t stop there.
On Thursday, NFL Films stirred the pot by posting—and then quickly pulling—a video clip from their “Turning Point” series, narrated by Louis Riddick. The segment, which dissected Branch’s chaotic night against the Chiefs, was labeled by some as a “hit piece” that painted the Lions’ rising star in an unfairly harsh light. The sudden removal of the video only fueled speculation and chatter across social media.
The next day, former NFL punter turned talk show host Pat McAfee took to his X channel to shed light on NFL Films’ decision, sharing a direct update from the organization after reaching out for clarity. “We want all of our shows to have a distinct voice and point-of-view,” McAfee said, reading NFL Films’ statement. “In the case of ‘Turning Point,’ that voice and point-of-view was Louis Riddick’s. He spends time every week with the show’s producers watching each segment and going over the script before narrating. That particular sequence felt different to us as part of a nine-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 so we took it down.”
McAfee didn’t stop there, offering more insight from his back-and-forth with NFL Films. “I think, they didn’t say there in the exact text to me but in the conversation I was having, I think they were trying to provide more in their head, they wanted to give context for Brian Branch on why this situation happened, but it obviously didn’t happen, so that’s why they took it down,” he explained. His tone carried a mix of understanding and urgency, as if he wanted fans to see the bigger picture.
McAfee also took a moment to defend NFL Films, emphasizing their value to the football community. “So, I don’t want to be here just speaking for NFL Films, but it feels like somebody should in this world, because NFL Films is an asset to us, not a bad thing to the entire football world,” he said. His co-host, A.J. Hawk, chimed in, agreeing wholeheartedly. “Yeah NFL Films, they’re not the people to go after, that try to do that stuff I think to make people look bad. It was like the lowlights of Branch in that video,” Hawk added.
The saga has left Lions fans torn—proud of Branch’s passion but frustrated by the spotlight on his misstep. As the dust settles, the question lingers: was the video’s takedown a fair move, or did it hide a deeper story? For now, McAfee’s update is the closest fans have to answers, but the passion of Lions Nation burns on.