By Terrance Turner
Feb. 14, 2023
Today is Valentine’s Day. In honor of the occasion, the Twitter account NFL Memes posted a series of Valentine’s Day memes featuring NFL players. The memes sparked an online row on Twitter thanks to one meme that referenced Sunday night’s Super Bowl.
One set of memes referenced QB Russell Wilson’s slogan, “Broncos Country, let’s ride!” Another featured a picture of an NFL referee, accusing him of bias toward the Kansas City Chiefs. The third one focused on the saga of former Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, who was traded to the L.A. Rams in a controversial deal involving scandal-ridden QB Deshaun Watson. Others focused on the welfare scandal involving former QB Brett Favre and the racism allegations against 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa.
Another picture card focused on the recent playoff game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Los Angeles Chargers. In that game, the Jaguars were down 27-0 at the half but rallied to win. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who threw four interceptions in just the first quarter (!!!), stormed back in the second half, ending his last five drives by completing 23 of 29 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns. It was remarkable. The Chargers blew a 27-point lead and lost to the Jaguars, 31-30.
Super Bowl Spat
One of the memes led to a Twitter beef online this afternoon. The picture in question featured Philadelphia Eagles cornerback James Bradberry. For those not in the know: Bradberry played a crucial role in Sunday night’s Super Bowl.
In the fourth quarter, the Chiefs launched their drive after the Eagles tied the score at 35. Despite his bad ankle, quarterback Patrick Mahomes broke free and scrambled for 26 yards, putting the Chiefs in field goal range with just 4:42 left to play. Several plays later, on 3rd and 8, he threw incomplete to wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster. But refs threw a penalty flag.
Bradberry got flagged for defensive holding. Video replay showed that he grabbed the back of Smith-Schuster’s jersey, holding him back. Then Bradberry grabbed his waist with one hand while placing his other arm on top of JuJu’s.
Reaction
Many fans and observers have complained about the call. But Bradberry himself admitted to committing the hold:
Today, NFL Memes mocked Bradberry with a meme, which Smith-Schuster retweeted:
Bradberry’s teammate, wide receiver A.J. Brown, took umbrage at the tweet and defended his teammate:
Then Eagles cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson chimed in:
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