James Bradberry admits to crucial holding call in Super Bowl 2023

James Bradberry’s first Super Bowl appearance will always be defined by a single call. It’s the one that directly correlated with the end of the Eagles’ special season, the one that soured a season-long redemption story of his own after the cornerback was released by the Giants and started over during the offseason. 

Though some might label the fourth-quarter holding penalty a poor officiating call, Bradberry admitted he committed a penalty while defending Chiefs wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster in the closing minutes of Super Bowl 2023.

“It was a holding,” Bradberry told reporters following Philadelphia’s 38-35 loss. “I tugged his jersey. I was hoping they would let it slide.”

When Smith-Schuster spun right toward the sideline out of his route, Bradberry appeared to tug the left side of the wideout’s jersey with his hand. The throw from Patrick Mahomes fell incomplete — which would’ve set up a fourth-and-8 inside the games’ final two minutes — but the ensuing penalty gave Kansas City a new set of downs.

Three plays later, Harrison Butker kicked a 27-yard field goal that sealed the Chiefs’ second Super Bowl title in the last four years.

Referee Carl Cheffers told the pool reporter following the game that the play involving Bradberry was a “clear case of a jersey grab that caused restriction.”

“That’s what we’re looking for, those kind of restrictions in those kind of routes that put the receiver at a disadvantage,” Cheffers said.

Bradberry, who was released by the Giants in May and later signed with the Eagles, selected Philadelphia because it was a team with a “good defense” and “some weapons on offense that could move the ball.” The 29-year-old spent a pair of seasons with the Giants — even making the Pro Bowl in 2020 — after beginning his NFL career in Carolina for four years.

This year with the Eagles, Bradberry was inserted into one of the league’s top defensive units. He started all 20 games across the regular season and playoffs, and even intercepted former teammate Daniel Jones in Philadelphia’s divisional round matchup against the Giants.

In the Super Bowl, Bradberry finished tied for third on the Eagles with five total tackles. But his late penalty — and the circumstances under which the referees called the infraction — will overshadow the other contributions he made across the previous three-plus quarters.