Nigel Bradham On Gun Arrest: ‘Honest Mistake’

Nigel Bradham. (Jeff Fusco)

Nigel Bradham has been formally charged with aggravated battery causing bodily harm and his trial hearing has been scheduled for January 17 at 9:30 a.m., according to the Miami-Dade County Criminal Justice Online System. TMZ first reported the news.

The Eagles linebacker said Wednesday afternoon he was unaware of having a January trial date and that his hearing isn’t until Friday, but court records show he had a hearing Wednesday morning at 9:30. The felony charge stems from a July incident when Bradham and several of his friends were allegedly involved in a physical altercation with a hotel employee.

Bradham also addressed his arrest over the weekend when airport security found a loaded gun in a zipper in one of his bags. Police found Bradham had no criminal intent, but because he was out on bond from his previous arrest, they briefly held him in custody before letting him out on bond.

“How does it happen? Just forgot. It’s as simple as that. Obviously, it was unintended,” Bradham said. “We got a lot of positive things to talk about right now and the fact that my name is involved in the negativity is very disappointing.”

Bradham hasn’t yet heard from the NFL after his most recent arrest, but he expects to. He also noted that while he doesn’t typically carry a loaded gun when he’s flying, he does when he’s traveling in a car. Bradham said he does have a concealed weapons permit.

“I got to be a role model for (my son), my family, this organization, kids in Philadelphia and just everybody,” Bradham said. “I just got to be a lot more responsible and take a lot more responsibility in what I’m doing.”

Bradham called Florida’s gun laws “very lenient” and opined that the incident “could have happened to anybody.” Both Doug Pederson and Jim Schwartz talked about the arrest this week to Bradham, who expressed regret over the incident.

“Fortunately, I’m here now and that’s a blessing. I can’t take that for granted,” Bradham said. “I know a lot of guys in the league who made mistakes and truly only get one chance at this. So it’s a honest mistake and just got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”