The James Bradberry “holding” call is exactly why people think the NFL is rigged.
When Super Bowl LVII was coming to a close, it was clear to everybody that the game was going to be considered a classic — an instant classic. However, the referees found a way to screw that up like they screw up everything else.
With less than two minutes to go in the game, the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles were tied at 35, with Patrick Mahomes & Co. rolling down the field in hopes for a Super Bowl-winning score. Well, they got that score, and their rings, but it’s not coming without some heat.
Kansas City was facing a 3rd-and-8 on Philadelphia’s 15-yard line, and as the Chiefs made their play in an attempt to get a first down, Mahomes threw an incomplete pass intended for wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. But instead of Kansas City being hit with a fourth-down situation, the zebras hit Eagles cornerback James Bradberry with a holding call.
The — and I’m just being honest here — outright shitty call gave the Chiefs a whole new set of downs with an automatic first. At that point, the referees gift wrapped (as Reggie Bush put it, you’ll see that here shortly) the Lombardi Trophy for Kansas City, setting them up for a Super Bowl-winning 27-yard field goal with only seconds left on the clock, giving the Chiefs their second ring of the Mahomes era.
Well, this whole ordeal wasn’t received well by anybody outside of Chiefs Kingdom (including myself), and the proof is in the pudding, with everybody across the football landscape bitchin’ about the God-awful call and tainting Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory in the process:
That’s fucking awful. End a Super Bowl on a bullshit penalty like that. Awful. NFL should be ashamed. Absolute bullshit
— Adam Malamut (@mutsack) February 13, 2023
You absolutely cannot make that call there
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) February 13, 2023
That’s such a crappy way to decide a Super Bowl man
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) February 13, 2023
They ruined it again
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) February 13, 2023
Sorry but I don’t like that call! Not for the Super Bowl man! 🤦🏾♂️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 13, 2023
Absolutely awful penalty
Horrible call
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) February 13, 2023
Refs just gift wrapped KC the Super Bowl
— Reggie Bush (@ReggieBush) February 13, 2023
Let them play…stop getting in the way of the game!
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) February 13, 2023
Third team shows up at just the wrong time.
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) February 13, 2023
AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl ended on flags
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) February 13, 2023
Was it a hold? Maybe. But if you don’t call it nobody notices it, nobody’s talking about it tomorrow. Because they did call it now it may be the story of the game and talked about it for a long time.
— Seth Emerson (@SethWEmerson) February 13, 2023
How do you make that call 🤦🏾♂️
— Desean Jackson (@DeSeanJackson10) February 13, 2023
😂😂😂 @NFLOfficiating
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) February 13, 2023
The refs on that hold: pic.twitter.com/96VLGPq0Xh
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) February 13, 2023
Refs win the bowl again
— Eli Apple (@EliApple) February 13, 2023
I’ve already stated my views on the matter (you can read my complete thoughts here and here) but as you see, the entire nation is pissed off. We had a classic Super Bowl in our hands, just for the referees to snatch it away from us.
The conversations on Super Bowl Monday could have been so glorious, and yet, here we are. (RELATED: Alleged Stories About Joe Montana Make Him Seem Like A Bit Of A Prick)
This is exactly why people think the NFL is rigged.