No one will (or at least no one should) call Detroit Lions defensive back Brian Branch a dirty player. But Sunday's helmet-to-helmet hit on Green Bay Packers wide receiver Bo Melton was his second such hit this season, and he was ejected (however flimsily, compared to a similar play in another game on Sunday).
The $10,128 fine Branch got for his Week 3 helmet-to-helmet hit on Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride is sure to be increased when he gets fined for the hit on Melton. How the NFL determines fines on a case-by-case basis is weird, to put it bluntly, and not always the same for the same offense. But if you're a repeat offender, the fine will increase from previous times.
Branch wasn't penalized for his profane gesture when he left the field on Sunday, so the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty he got appears to be based on something he said to the officials. That will surely draw a fine, and via the pool report after the game Branch could be disciplined for the aforementioned gesture too.
The pool reporter, ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky, clarified with Senior VP of Officiating Perry Fewell if Branch's double-middle finger gesture did not draw discipline on the field in the moment. But it could bring additional discipline.
A pool report on the Brian Branch ejection. pic.twitter.com/qEFRU2nEjb
— Justin Rogers | Detroit Football Network (@Justin_Rogers) November 4, 2024
Could Brian Branch draw a suspension for his latest helmet-to-helmet hit?
Sunday's helmet-to-helmet hit is at least the third helmet-to-helmet hit of Branch's two-year career (Mike Payton of AtoZ Sports says it's four, so let's go with that as the tentative total). Overall, this will be the sixth (or more, assuming separate fines for extra-curriculars after the ejection) time he's going to be fined in his career.
At a certain point, usually, big fines for the same on-field penalty become a suspension. Right or wrong, Branch is building a history of helmet-to-helmet hits. The league likes to try to determine intent and legislate based on perception of intent. Fewell's pool report comments reflect the view that Branch "had the time and space to make a different choice" on Sunday.
Branch will lose a lot of money for what happened on Sunday-the hit/ejection for sure, then likely for whatever he might have said to the officials after being ejected and the double-middle finger. It'll be interesting to see exactly how much his fines are come Saturday afternoon.
It seems unlikely Branch will be suspended after Sunday's helmet-to-helmet hit. But the ejection clearly shows he's on the NFL's radar for repeat hits of that nature, and a suspension is firmly on the radar down the road if he doesn't correct things.