Brian Branch’s history could lead to the Lions being without him against the Buccaneers on “Monday Night Football”
You just can’t do that, Brian.
Look, if any other player went to the center of the field on Sunday night and did what Brian Branch did, it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal. The league sends them a fine next Saturday, and that’s about it. But it had to be Brian Branch, and that’s a problem for the Lions.
Brian Branch’s history of fines in the NFL could push the league to suspend him after cheap shot on “Sunday Night Football”
This is bad, man. It’s just pointless, too. I know that emotions are running high and you’re mad, and maybe Smith-Schuster did or said something upsetting, but this doesn’t change the scoreboard any. It accomplishes nothing and now has a real good chance of putting the Lions in a tight spot against an NFC team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week.
There’s a really good reason to believe that suspension is coming. The big reason is that since Branch came into the league, he’s been fined 13 times for $129,989. That’s no joke. The league is going to see him as not just a repeat offender, but a habitual offender.
On top of that, the NFL is leaning hard on sportsmanship this year. That’s why you’re seeing the flags for taunting and the fines for taunting. They’re cracking down, and this is exactly the type of situation where the league likes ot make an example out of someone. We’ll see what happens in the coming days. But this is enough to be concerned about.
After the game, Dan Campbell said that while he loves Branch, that was not ok. It’s not what the Lions are about, and he let Branch know that. Campbell also apologized to Andy Reid and the entire Kansas City Chiefs team.