Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch apologized Wednesday for flipping off the Lambeau Field crowd following his ejection during Sunday’s 24-14 win over the Green Bay Packers.
“That’s not something I wanted to show or want people to notice me as that,” Branch told reporters. “That was just the heat of the moment for me, and I apologize to everyone who seen that and that won’t happen again.”
Branch was kicked out for a late, helmet-to-helmet hit in the second quarter on Packers wide receiver Bo Melton. After Melton dropped Jordan Love’s pass, Branch hit Melton by the sideline, drawing a flag for unnecessary roughness. The play was reviewed and Branch was ejected from the game.
After arguing with officials, the second-year defensive back flipped off the crowd as he left the field, which earned him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a likely fine from the NFL.
Lions safety Brian Branch gives a friendly goodbye to Lambeau Field after being ejected for his helmet to helmet hit on Packers receiver Bo Melton pic.twitter.com/POAu2QG7Hl
— Ellie French (@elliefrenchTV) November 3, 2024
Lions head coach Dan Campbell attributed the punishment for Branch to the fact that it was a nationally televised game and the standard of officiating changes when that is the case.
“He’s got to get used to that,” Campbell said. “When you play in prime-time games, New York’s gonna look at all these. They don’t care about the 1 o’clock games. They do those prime-time games. So understand the situation.”
NFL senior vice president of officiating Perry Fewell told a pool reporter after the game that multiple angles of the hit were reviewed and the thought was that Branch had enough time to take a different route.
“And he clearly had the opportunity to avoid the head and neck area,” Fewell added.
Days later, Branch was sorry for his actions and said penalizing him for the hit was the right call by officials.
“I most definitely agree with the call. My target was obviously high, but that was never my intentions to aim for the head,” Branch said. “Moving forward I do have to move my target down.”