James Bradberry owns up to holding call in Super Bowl LVII

Eagles cornerback James Bradberry admitted after the game that he was hoping his defensive holding would slide without the refs calling it.

At this point, fans of the Philadelphia Eagles are likely going to complain more than the actual player involved. That’s because Eagles cornerback James Bradberry owned up to a defensive holding penalty that was called late in the game in his post-game remarks following the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.

What every fan, Eagles or not, should be able to agree upon is that the call came at the worst time and that officials at that point should have let the teams play. Carl Cheffers came into the game as the lead official and his history with the Chiefs is questionable at best.

In case you missed it, late in the game, the game was tied at 35 points apiece between the Chiefs and Eagles with only minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs had the ball and were driving within field goal range to take a late lead when Bradberry was called for defensive holding on Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.

You can see the play here.

The downside for Philly is that it kept the drive alive and allowed K.C. to milk more time off of the clock. Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker would go on to put the team ahead with a short field goal but that came after the Chiefs brought the clock down near the game’s end. The Eagles wouldn’t get the ball back until only eight seconds remained on the game clock.

After the game, Eagles fans were livid with the call and vocal in their displeasure on social media, but Bradberry owned the penalty after the game. “It was a holding. I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide,” he said. As for Smith-Schuster, he also felt the call was the right one to make.

It’s never a good thing for officiating to be a talking point of such a tremendous game, but this call will remain a famous one for a long time due to the thrilling nature of the game. As far as the Chiefs are concerned, however, it was the right one and Bradberry seems to agree—like it or not.