Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Eli Apple has developed quite the reputation as a trash talker.
A lot of that trash talk has been directed at the Kansas City Chiefs over the last two seasons.
Apple did a lot of talking after the Bengals beat the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game last season. And he continued the trash talk during the 2022 season and the playoffs.
Eli Apple will always talk trash pic.twitter.com/58pfFpB4jf
— PFF (@PFF) February 2, 2023
On Tuesday, some of that trash talk was vindicated.
Eagles defensive back James Bradberry, who was guilty of the hold on Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster that gave Kansas City a crucial first down late in Super Bowl LVII, had some shade thrown at him by JuJu on Tuesday (which happened to be Valentine’s Day).
Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody ❤️ pic.twitter.com/skXuZVgrYR
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) February 14, 2023
That tweet, which was incredibly savage, set off a back-and-forth between various Eagles and Chiefs players.
Philly WR AJ Brown came to Bradberry’s defense, which drew another response from JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Glad you were finally able to get all that off your chest after all these years. Good game bro 👍🏾💍 https://t.co/2JNdB6uYqU
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) February 14, 2023
Smith-Schuster and Philly DB CJ Garnder-Johnson also got into it on Twitter.
Big 🧢, also I told you in the game to stop all that talkin because we were gonna come back and win that game. Now help me decide which finger I need to get sized for this ring 🤣🤣 https://t.co/Xv97nrRBQW
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) February 15, 2023
Even Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes got involved.
That man must just be bored.
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) February 14, 2023
(I think that tweet was directed at Brown, but who knows at this point.)
Eventually, Bradberry sent a tweet (which has since been deleted) that mentioned Eli Apple and said “I now understand why you do it”.
Eli Apple villain arc pic.twitter.com/GhhqUn6cG2
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) February 14, 2023
After dealing with the Chiefs this week, Bradberry finally understands why Apple talks so much trash to Kansas City’s players.
Rivalries are alive and well in the NFL.
And the best thing about all of this is that the Chiefs play the Eagles and the Bengals during the regular season in 2023.
Even though we just wrapped up the 2022 season, I can’t wait for 2023 to get underway. Get your popcorn ready this summer. 2023 is going to be wild.