By Eric Edholm, Lead Draft Writer
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel grabbed long snapper Taybor Pepper and inadvertently made contact with kicker Jake Moody on Sunday after Moody missed a third field-goal attempt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In a twist of fate, Moody hit his final field-goal attempt as time expired, vaulting the 49ers to a 23-20 win over the Bucs in Week 10. At 5-4, they’re now over .500 for the first time since Week 1, but the victory didn’t come without some serious tension between teammates.
Samuel told reporters after the game he would “talk to Moody, and we’ll get past it,” explaining that his frustrations simply got the best of him with 3:09 remaining in the fourth quarter, following Moody’s third miss. The video shows Samuel barking and grabbing Pepper by the throat. As Pepper swiped away Samuel’s hand, Samuel grazed Moody before walking away. Pepper yelled and followed Samuel up the sideline before teammates intervened.
“I wasn’t saying anything like crazy to him,” Samuel said, per The Athletic. “I was kinda frustrated at the time, but he went out there and won the game for us. He wasn’t bothered by it, so we move past it.”
Samuel later added that Moody “had a little dog in him” for hitting the game-winner after such a rough day.
But Moody said no apology is necessary from Samuel.
“It’s an emotional game, and stuff like that happens all the time,” Moody said. “You just move past it and we won, so that’s all that matters.
“There doesn’t need to be (an apology). … I do (need) to make those kicks at the end of the day, that’s all I’m focused on. I’m not worried about anything like that.”
Pepper also tried his best to diffuse the situation, turning a potential negative into a positive.
“He was telling him to lock in, and we know what our job is,” Pepper said. “We got us. It’s hard being a specialist, sometimes it’s feast or famine.
“As a young developing specialist like Jake is … I don’t know how much better it gets than missing three straight and having to step up and hitting an almost 50-yard game-winner. I’m super proud of Jake.”
Head coach Kyle Shanahan promised to address the situation on the team’s flight back from Tampa, if it hadn’t already been addressed by the players. But he certainly didn’t appear too worried about the aftermath and didn’t believe the interaction with Samuel made Moody’s final attempt any tougher than it already was.
“I don’t think the pressure of people getting shoved with a helmet on or something is much of it,” Shanahan said. “You’re only as good as your last kick, you’re only as good as your last throw, you’re only as good as your last game.
“It was great practice for himself to put himself in a situation like that and to come through. I think that does add confidence to guys so they’ve been there before. But I’m proud of how he made that at the end.”