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“I Only Had Two Options”: Shocking Video From Pulsating Super Bowl Final Puts James Bradberry on Spotlight

Published 02/17/2023, 11:30 AM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Since last Sunday’s Super Bowl LVII action in Phoenix’s State Farm Arena, the holding call on James Bradberry in the final 2 minutes of the game, which cost the Eagles the game, has been a major point of debate between fans and analysts. However, the NFL just put an end to all debates.

NFL Films released the official footage of the deciding play and the multiple camera angles leave nothing to doubt anymore. However, the Philadelphia Eagles‘ cornerback had already owned up to the foul play. And it’s hard to say if an additional camera angle can convince the fans.

New footage confirms the referee’s calls

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The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Eagles 38-35 to clinch the Lombardi. However, things could have been very different if the referees went the other way in the James Bradberry and JuJu Smith-Schuster incident. The Chiefs wideout ran to catch the Patrick Mahomes throw with 2 minutes left on the clock when Bradberry interjected.

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The Eagles’ fans hoped for the officials to eat the whistle when the holding didn’t seem clear from many angles, although Bradberry’s hands were around JuJu. However, the NFL Films footage had the perfect angle to incriminate Bradberry. It showed James tugging on JuJu’s jersey, enough for the wide receiver to fail on his route.

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This comes as a no-shocker to the Chiefs Kingdom who already believed Bradberry’s testimony. “It was a holding, and I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide. I feel like I only had two options, really: I could take responsibility for it or I could blame it on someone else,” James told the media after the game last Sunday.

James Bradberry even suffered some humiliation online

The 29-year-old Pro-Bowler’s errors cost the Eagles heavily. After the flags came on, the Chiefs were handed the automatic down conversion with 1:48 left on the clock. From then onwards, it was a classic time-kill. The Eagles even hoped for a dying-second comeback with a 2-point conversion on the table.

However, Kansas City Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon didn’t fall for the trap. Despite having the road to the end zone clear, he stopped at the one-yard line to waste even more time. The Chiefs ended the drive with the Harrison Butker field goal. And ultimately it was too late for Jalen Hurts. JuJu had some roasting reserved for Bradberry. He tweeted to James after the game on Valentine’s day, “I’ll hold you when it matters the most.” But Eagles WR A J Brown was having none of it and tweeted back in brutal fashion.

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Bradberry’s defensive colleague, Darius Slay, also asked JuJu to pipe down. “Come on now, bro. Doing too much,” he tweeted.

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WATCH THIS STORY: Truth vs Hype: Did NFL GOAT Tom Brady mock Jalen Hurts?

The Eagles-Chiefs rivalry has just started and the two talented rosters are likely to meet down the road again. Maybe then the Eagles can settle their score with JuJu and the rest. Till then, the NFL Films footage will make do.

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Written by:

Soumyapriyo Ganguly

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Soumyapriyo Ganguly is an NFL writer at Essentially Sports. He holds a degree in Economics and Statistics from the Indian School of Business and Finance. Rivu is a sports nerd with his favorites being Soccer, American Football, Basketball, UFC, and Formula 1.
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Edited by:

Hitesh Nigam