San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody insisted Deebo Samuel does not owe him an apology after the pair, and long-snapper Taybor Pepper, were embroiled in an altercation during yesterday’s 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Moody endured a mixed afternoon, missing three attempts before holding his nerve to land a 44-yard field goal as time expired and hand the 49ers a win that improves their record to 5-4.
After his third miss, Samuel confronted Moody on the sideline to vent his frustration with Pepper stepping in only to be pushed in the throat by the wide receiver.
Deebo Samuel grabbed the neck of long snapper Taybor Pepper and swiped at kicker Jake Moody after a third missed field goal pic.twitter.com/wFIK3p38DR
— Ollie Connolly (@OllieConnolly) November 10, 2024
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We move past it
Samuel was quick to play the incident down after the game and Moody was also eager to not make it a big deal.
He said: “It’s an emotional game and stuff like that happens all the time. You just move past it and we won, so that’s all that matters.
“There doesn’t need to be [an apology]. Like I said, heat of the moment. It happens. I got 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.”
Samuel denied he had been abusive and was simply telling the kicker to “lock in”.
“I’ll talk to Moody and we’ll get past it,” he said.
“I wasn’t saying anything like crazy to him, 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.”
It’s GOOD! Moody wins it for the @49ers! pic.twitter.com/NWwYbEVlWR
— NFL (@NFL) November 10, 2024
Pepper – it’s hard being a specialist
The highs and lows of being an NFL kicker were evident as Moody went from zero to hero in a matter of minutes, a point acknowledged by Pepper, who added: “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.”
Niners coach Kyle Shanahan hailed Moody’s calmness under pressure.
He 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.”
