San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan called the complaint involving star wide receiver Deebo Samuel and two of his teammates an “overreaction” and the team dismissed it.
The moment in question came late in San Francisco’s 23-20 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday after kicker Jake Moody missed his third field goal of the game.
Television cameras caught Samuel throwing words at each other and shoving a long shot at Taybor Pepper’s throat as the distraught receiver approached Moody on the sideline. Samuel looked again at the side of Moody’s hat to follow him.
“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal,” Shanahan said Monday. “But after I got home and saw it all on ‘SportsCenter’ and everything and all that, I wanted to make sure I did it. I talked to the guys about it, I talked to a couple of the guys on the team. ‘He’s great.’
Samuel said after the game that his actions were wrong and he let his emotions out. Pepper said Samuel told Moody to “lock up” after the miss but Pepper wanted to protect his kicker.
Do you have a problem with Deebo Samuel shoving long snapper Taybor Pepper after 3 missed FGs? | Institution
Moody said it was just something that happened in the “heat of the moment” and he doesn’t need an apology.
Shanahan actually agreed with the idea, saying he didn’t like the contact between Samuel and his teammates but said Samuel had no bad intentions.
“I like Pep’s intentions so, he has his kicker,” Shanahan said. “But I think he misinterpreted what Deebo was doing to him and took it slow. Deebo didn’t like that and kicked him out of his face, and that was the end of it.”
Moody recovered from three misses to make the game-winner from 44 yards out on the final play.
It is reported by the Associated Press.
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