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James Bradberry: "I fuged up, I fuged up."

nctarheel0619

By nctarheel0619,
in Carolina Panthers

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nctarheel0619 Newbie

nctarheel0619

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He supplies the assessment before being asked for an assessment.

His eyes are cold, his voice curt.

"I f--ked up. Simple as that. I f--ked up."

James Bradberry leaves it at that and continues to pack. He checks the cellphone in his locker and sets it back down. He tucks equipment into a duffel bag. Cracks his knuckles. Nobody along this row of defensive backs in the visitor's locker room speaks to each other for a good 10 minutes after a gut-punch 21-20 loss to the Broncos. Rather, they grab slices of oranges from a bucket nearby, shower and change in slow motion.

For veterans, memories of a Super Bowl loss—buried for seven months—return like a throbbing hangover.

For the rookie Bradberry, this was a grand premiere. A chance to introduce himself to the world. There were 76,843 in the crowd at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and another 25.4 million watching at home. The kid who played in front of 6,259 in his season opener last fall at Samford was now center stage...replacing the highest-paid cornerback in football...wearing the same No. 24...covering 6'3", 229-pound Demaryius Thomas.

So, was it as bad as he thinks? What did this all look like on TV?

In truth, it was not apocalyptic. Thomas had only four catches for 48 yards. But Bradberry's worst fear is letting his teammates down, so the worst plays replay in his mind.

Like C.J. Anderson's 25-yard touchdown on a screen pass. Bradberry grabs my elbows, shoves them together and pretends to push—that's how Thomas took him on a 5.5-second joyride in the fourth quarter.

No, Bradberry wasn't nervous. Really. He promises.

But it was loud. So loud he needed to shout to defensive backs sitting right next to him on the bench.

And his skull was pounding. Bradberry never played at an altitude close to this. At 5,280 feet above sea level, the padding inside his helmet inflated.

"My helmet," he says, "was squeezing my head."

http://thelab.bleacherreport.com/prepare-play-recover-repeat/

 

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UnluckyCharms Contributor

UnluckyCharms

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This is a great article to read. Its interesting to hear about how different Bradberry is than Norman, even if he can't escape the comparisons. I believe his career arc will be much like normans, except he'll get to that lockdown status about a season earlier. We need to keep Peanut around so he adds that Punch to his arsenal

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Bartin Collaborator

Bartin

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7 minutes ago, UnluckyCharms said:

This is a great article to read. Its interesting to hear about how different Bradberry is than Norman, even if he can't escape the comparisons. I believe his career arc will be much like normans, except he'll get to that lockdown status about a season earlier. We need to keep Peanut around so he adds that Punch to his arsenal

Peanut is already gone so that part isn't going to happen.

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