James Bradberry is playing in the Super Bowl, and Deebo Samuel is not.
But that didn’t stop the latter from downplaying the former’s skills on a podcast.
During Super Bowl weekend in Arizona, Samuel appeared on the I AM ATHLETE podcast, cohosted Ashley Nicole Moss and former NFL players LeSean McCoy, Adam “PacMan” Jones and Brandon Marshall. And during the interview, Samuel said – among other things – that Bradberry is “trash.”
Samuel, a Swiss Army knife weapon for the San Francisco 49ers, lost in the NFC championship game to Bradberry’s Eagles. Bradberry was named All-Pro at cornerback this year by the Associated Press and his fellow cornerback Darius Slay was voted to the Pro Bowl.
But those accolades didn’t stop Samuel from talking. McCoy, a former Eagles running back, asked Samuel, “Where are the holes [in the Eagles’ defense]?”
“On the back end,” Samuel said. “The [defensive line] makes both of them All-Pro. Besides Slay. I respect Slay.”
McCoy asks, “What about Bradberry?”
“Trash,” Samuel replies, drawing “oohs” from the rest of the hosts.
Shady McCoy: "What about James Bradberry?"
Deebo Samuel: "Trash!"
@19problemz had A LOT to say ahead of #SuperBowl LVII 😲 #FlyEaglesFly
Watch & Subscribe for the full interview: https://t.co/fSQVphh4ME pic.twitter.com/NLXTApwmU4— I AM ATHLETE (@IAMATHLETEpod) February 12, 2023
It’s worth noting that Samuel finished the NFC championship game with three catches for 33 yards and six carries for negative-nine rushing yards. Meanwhile, Bradberry had three tackles.
Samuel is a talented offensive player and has often dazzled fans and puzzled opposing defenses, but Bradberry is pretty solid cornerback too. On the season, Bradberry had 17 passes defended, which was the third-most in the NFL this year. That was in addition to three interceptions and 44 tackles.
This is not the first time that Samuel has gotten into a war of words with an opponent. Last month, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons was a little salty with Samuel over an Instagram post.
Samuel also said that if 49ers’ quarterback Brock Purdy didn’t get hurt in the NFC championship, that “the game wouldn’t have been close.” But he also said that in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, “it don’t really matter who the quarterback is. We don’t ask the quarterback to do too much.”
You can watch Samuel say a lot of wild things in the full interview here.