Lions’ Brian Branch Apologizes for Scaring Lambeau Field Crowd: ‘That Was Just the Hottest of the Day for Me’

Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch apologized Wednesday for scaring the Lambeau Field crowd after his ejection during Sunday’s 24-14 win over the Green Bay Packers.

“That’s not something that I wanted to show or that I wanted people to notice me like that,” Branch told reporters. “That was just the hottest part of the day for me, and I apologize to anyone who saw that and that won’t happen again.”

Branch was thrown 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 on the sideline and drew a flag for unnecessary roughness. The play was reviewed and Branch was ejected from the game.

After arguing with the officials, the second-year defensive back left the crowd behind him as he left the field, earning him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and a likely fine from the NFL.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell attributed Branch’s penalty to the fact that it was a nationally televised game and the standard of refereeing changes when that is the case.

“He’s got to get used to that,” Campbell said. “If you play prime-time games, New York will be watching all of this. They don’t care about the 1-hour games. They’re doing 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 being looked at and the thinking was that Branch had enough time to take a different route.

“And he clearly had the ability to avoid the head and neck area,” Fewell added.

Days later, Branch regretted his actions and said punishing him for the hit was the right decision by officials.

“I absolutely agree with the call. My aim was obviously high, but I never intended to aim for the head,” Branch said. “Moving forward, I need to move my target down.”