NFL Films' deleted video of Brian Branch draws Lions' ire - ESPN

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Players inside the Detroit Lions locker room took offense to an NFL Films video that was released, then deleted, on social media involving suspended safety Brian Branch claiming it was overly critical.

Lions All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was stunned by the content about Branch that was posted as part of NFL Films' «Turning Point» online series on Thursday. The one-minute video was narrated by ESPN's Louis Riddick and portrayed Branch in a negative light with a montage of lowlights from the Chiefs' 30-17 win over the Lions on Sunday.

«I thought that video was crazy. I don't know why it was released, the reasoning behind it,» St. Brown said. «As I was watching, I remember it popped up and I was like, 'I don't know if it was like a trick or mockery.' I clicked the NFL and I didn't know if it was actually them. And it was. So I don't know the reasoning why they posted it or what they got out of that.

»But, Brian Branch is an awesome dude. In the building, he's one of the nicest dudes. He's quiet, you never see him really get mad. He's always smiling. He made a mistake and he knows it and he apologized and I don't know why it's still getting dragged along, but I don't think that video was right."

The NFL suspended Branch for one game without pay on Monday for unsportsmanlike conduct after he struck Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and set off a brief fight at the conclusion of the game.

Branch's one-game suspension was upheld upon appeal Wednesday.

Lions defensive lineman DJ Reader also said the video «seemed strange.»

«If you're saying you don't want to glorify something, you don't want something in the game or this, that and the third, then why release this new video about it and