Tampa, Fla. >> Deebo Samuel has made a career out of being a physical football player, but when it came to swiping at teammate Taybor Pepper’s throat Sunday, it was obviously an “out of character” moment.
Samuel had first confronted kicker Jake Moody for his third missed field goal Sunday when Pepper, the veteran long snapper, came to his defense, prompting Samuel’s left hand to lurch at Pepper’s throat and ricochet off Moody’s helmet.
“He was telling him to lock in,” Pepper explained after Moody rebounded to make his first career walk-off field goal in the 49ers’ 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Bucs.
“We know what our job is. We’ve got us,” Pepper said. “It’s hard being a specialist. Sometimes it’s feast or famine.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan said he did not see Samuel’s verbal-then-physical attack, downplaying it publicly to reporters by noting “brothers scuffle” and peace would be brokered by the time their flight lands Sunday night in San Jose.
While Shanahan said he didn’t speak to Moody before the 44-yard game-winner, special teams coordinator Brian Schneider told this news organization he spoke to Moody plenty and the second-year kicker was all good.
No one’s voice carried more than Samuel’s after Moody’s third and final miss.
“He had a little dog in him, a little motivation to go out there and make the (winning) field goal,” Samuel said. “I was talking to him at first and wasn’t saying nothing crazy. I was frustrated in the time. He went out there and won the game for us. He wasn’t bothered by it so we move past it.”
Moody, after missing the three previous games with a high ankle sprain, made a 28-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead but then hooked a 49-yarder wide left. He rebounded to make a 33-yarder, but then came the fourth-quarter flurry, with him hooking a 50-yarder left before slicing a 44-yarder right, that latter one touching off the Deebo dispute with 3:09 left and the 49ers ahead 20-17.
The Bucs responded with a game-tying field goal from 26 yards, by one-time 49ers temp Chase McLaughlin, before Brock Purdy directed a last-minute drive that allowed for Moody’s 44-yard winner.
“Really, really wanted a chance to redeem myself,” Moody said. “I felt really confident, really good going that direction. It was the same exact spot as the previous kick, so I felt really confident. What happened with the previous one I was able to make an adjustment.”
The Buccaneers didn’t use any of their three remaining timeouts to ice Moody.
“He had missed two before that so we didn’t feel like icing him,” Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles said.
Moody credited his teammates and coaches for trusting him, for “picking me up” in an “emotional game.”