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Bowen: Agholor, Bradham face the music

AT FIRST, the showing of contrition might have seemed rather automatic, like a checkdown in the face of a blitz. Clearly, Nigel Bradham and Nelson Agholor knew what they were expected to say, in their first encounters with reporters since they made news for questionable off-the-field conduct.

Linebacker Nigel Bradham catches the ball during practice.
Linebacker Nigel Bradham catches the ball during practice.Read more(Charles Fox/Staff Photographer)

AT FIRST, the showing of contrition might have seemed rather automatic, like a checkdown in the face of a blitz. Clearly, Nigel Bradham and Nelson Agholor knew what they were expected to say, in their first encounters with reporters since they made news for questionable off-the-field conduct.

But both Eagles spoke long enough after the team's first full-squad practice of training camp to go beyond scripted talking points. Both Bradham and Agholor seem at least to understand that they put themselves and the team in an unfavorable light, and that they don't want this to happen again.

Bradham's situation is the more serious of the two. He was charged with aggravated battery, a second-degree felony, on Monday in Miami, after a confrontation last week with an employee of a South Beach hotel. Agholor avoided charges after police investigated a strip club dancer's claim that he sexually assaulted her last month, in what a source close to Agholor has called a dispute over money.

Both made the kind of headlines first-year coach Doug Pederson doesn't need, and doesn't want to get a reputation for tolerating.

"Most definitely," Bradham said, when asked if he is remorseful. Bradham joined the Eagles this offseason as a free agent from Buffalo, signing a two-year, $7 million contract. "You don't want that to be part of your legacy, at any time, throughout your career, and it's my first year here, just getting started, I definitely didn't want to start out with that being out there in the news."

Agholor, 23, said: "Obviously, I put myself in a poor situation. The most important thing for me was to realize that no matter what was going on, if I make the right decision, I won't be there . . . To be honest with you, there was points where I thought an opportunity that was given to me to play for this organization, to have the life I have, could have been taken from me . . . I fell short of my mission . . . From here on out, I have an obligation to do the right thing and to be the right person for this organization."

Bradham, 26, said that when he met with Pederson Tuesday evening, "I just pretty much told him what happened. I can't really put it out in public yet (because the legal process continues). But we had a heart-to-heart conversation about everything . . . I also apologized for being a distraction to the team."

Bradham said he "most definitely" feels his name will be cleared. Asked about the possibility of filing countercharges against his accuser, Bradham said he couldn't comment. "There's some things that's going on. Hopefully they'll get out, eventually," he said.

Bradham was among a group of six people who attempted to rent a beach umbrella and chairs last week from an attendant at the Hilton Bentley. A confrontation started over what the arrest complaint called "speed of service," but a source close to Bradham has said it began with the party's desire to rent six chairs, when only four were allowed to be rented at a time, and escalated over the chairs' positioning. The source said Bradham's version is that the attendant, 50-year-old Jean Courtois, disrespected Bradham's girlfriend, who was struck in the face, possibly by a blow aimed at Bradham, leading Bradham to break Courtois' nose.

The group fled before police arrived, leaving a cellphone, and the credit card information Bradham had used to rent the umbrella and chairs. He was arrested after Courtois and a witness picked him out of a photo lineup.

"I've pretty much been good my whole life," Bradham said. "This was the first time I've ever been arrested. It's one of those things where I've learned a lot."

Agholor, the Eagles' first-round draft pick in 2015, likewise is not known for getting into trouble. He went to the South Philly club with teammates Connor Barwin and Fletcher Cox to celebrate the end of the team's spring work, the afternoon of June 9.

"Tough," Agholor said, when asked what the first few days were like after the allegation was made. "For a few days I sat back and I was in shock. But after a while, I had to realize that I put myself in this position, and all I can do is grow. Find different ways to get closer to my family, get closer to the people that have my back . . . Also, train, because I couldn't let (the controversy) defeat me twice . . . If I just sat around moping, I wouldn't be prepared to perform today. So I just continued to train, stayed with my family (in Tampa), get myself ready."

Agholor, the fourth of five children of Nigerian immigrants, said his parents were "disappointed," but "proud of the way I responded."

Asked if he felt he'd done anything wrong, Agholor said: "I put myself in that position, going there . . . At the end of the day, it's either negative or neutral consequences, being in a place like that. So I made the wrong decision, being there.

"From here on out, I have to make a conscious effort, every day I wake up, to feed myself the right stuff, and be around the right people, and to make the right decisions. And also, hold myself accountable, each day when I wake up."

Pederson said Wednesday that he would handle discipline "case-by-case." He acknowledged that players come from "different cultures, different cities, different organizations," but concluded: "I just know this - when they come to the Philadelphia Eagles, there's an expectation level that needs to be upheld, and it starts with me. I have to be very clear where I stand with the players and the coaches, for that matter, and make sure they understand. Once they leave the facility, they're citizens. But at the same time, the players understand they represent their families, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the entire organization."

@LesBowen

Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog