Call it a bad case of the Sundays.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel was seen with his hands around the neck of a teammate — long-snapper Taybor Pepper — late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Week 10 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The altercation occurred just moments after 49ers kicker Jake Moody missed his third field goal attempt of the game. San Francisco was up by three points at the time, but with the miss, it gave the ball back to Baker Mayfield and company with about three minutes to play.
Back on the sideline, Samuel began barking at his special team teammates to “lock in,” Pepper told reporters after the game.
The beef became physical as the star wideout wrapped one hand under Pepper’s helmet and around his neck, then took a swipe at Moody.
The long-snapper stepped up as if to challenge Samuel, but Moody held him back.
In his postgame presser, Samuel owned up to the malpractice, explaining that he “Just [got] frustrated in the heat of battle.”
“Real close game and I kind of got out of character a little bit,” Samuel said. “I’ll talk to Moody and we’ll get past it … But he went out there and won the game … so we move past it.”
After missing a 49-yard kick in the second quarter, from 50 in the third and then the beef-inducing 44-yarder in the fourth, Moody was crowned the king of San Francisco when he converted from 44 yards out as time expired to secure the 49ers’ their second consecutive win.
By the time the celebration had concluded, the jawing was a distant memory.
“Yeah, you know, it’s an emotional game,” Moody said. “Stuff like that happens all the time. You just move past it and move on. That’s all that matters.
“There doesn’t need to be [an apology]. It happens. I do have to make those kicks at the end of the day. That’s all I’m focused on. I’m not worried about anything [other than] that.”
Neither is Pepper.
“We know what our job is and we got us,” the seven-year veteran told reporters. “It’s hard being a specialist. Sometimes, it’s feast or famine. As a young, developing specialist like Jake is, the best mental exercise you can have is missing three straight and having to step up and make an almost 50-yard game-winner. So I’m super proud of Jake.”
Moody, in his second season with the 49ers, had converted on 15 of 16 attempts prior to Sunday’s game.
San Francisco will host Seattle next Sunday at 4:05 p.m.
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