DETROIT Lions star safety Brian Branch was ejected from his game and could face additional penalties.
Branch laid a devastating hit on Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver Bo Melton on Sunday.
Lions star safety Brian Branch was tossed from his game for a brutal hit[/caption]
Branch received two penalties before being ejected from the Lions-Packers game[/caption]
Branch was ejected for an unnecessary roughness call on a hit against a defenseless receiver.
The NFL‘s review center in New York then determined that the hit was egregious enough to disqualify Branch from the remainder of the game.
Branch was enraged by the decision, and picked up an extra unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on his way off the field.
Senior VP of Officiating Perry Fewell sent out a statement after the game explaining the reasoning for Branch’s ejection.
“We reviewed all the angles, and we clearly felt that he had time and space to make a different choice, as the act was a flagrant foul,” Fewell said.
“And he clearly had the opportunity to avoid the head and neck area.”
Branch likely won’t get suspended for the incident on Sunday, but he will certainly see a fine for the hit on the defenseless receiver, and a bigger one will likely come from his unsportsmanlike conduct call as he was throwing up middle fingers.
While the hit was brutal, Branch actually has many defenders speaking out against the NFL for ejecting him.
Tom Brady spoke up on the broadcast that he didn’t like that the Lions defender was tossed from the game.
“I don’t love that call at all,” Brady said.
“Obviously it’s a penalty, but to me, there has to be serious intent in a game like this.”
Brady continued by saying he felt like the Lions lost their best player with the ejection.
“He does so much for these guys and they’re going to have to adjust the rest of the game losing their best defensive player, who I know they were expecting to have a huge day today,” he said.
“Not an easy guy to replace and Green Bay has great field position now without having to do too much.”
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Former player Richard Sherman also sounded off about the ejection on his personal podcast.
“This league is just getting ridiculously soft!” he yelled.
Meanwhile, former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was in full agreement with the ejection.
“Brian Branch is an all world talent and you hate to see guys getting ejected from games but watch this angle and tell me there isn’t intent behind him hitting the WR in the head,” he wrote on X.
“Call it soft or whatever you want but this is head hunting which has been taken out of the game.”
Many analysts didn’t agree with the decision to eject Branch[/caption]
