The San Francisco 49ers drafted kicker Jake Moody out of Michigan with a third round pick two years ago. Moody has been pretty automatic for San Francisco so far this season, hitting 13-of-14 field goal attempts coming into the team’s Week 10 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Moody kicked the game-winning field goal from 44 yards away as time expired to give San Francisco a win against the Bucs. It was an adventure to get there, and it included a superstar teammate trying to get physical with the 49ers’ special teams tandem after missing a third straight kick earlier in the game.
The 49ers beat the Bucs, 23-20, on Moody’s game-winning field goal. Before he connected on that kick, Moody missed kicks from 49 yards, 50 yards, and 44 yards. After Moody’s third missed field goal in the fourth quarter, 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel got in the face of Moody and long snapper Taybor Pepper. Samuel appeared to grab Pepper by the neck and struck Moody in the helmet with his hand. Watch the moment here:
Moody got the last laugh with the game-winning field goal.
Watch Moody’s buzzer-beating kick here, and then look at Samuel’s reaction as San Francisco walked off the field.
Samuel maintained that he “didn’t say anything crazy” to Pepper and Moody, and that he just got caught up in the heat of the moment.
“I kind of got out of character a little bit,” Samuel said. Watch Samuel’s full post-game comments on the confrontation here:
Pepper also talked about the incident after the game, and mentioned how being a specialist can often be a feast or famine proposition.
Watch the long snapper’s comment here:
A win fixes an bad blood, but it’s a strange look for teammates to be confronting each other physically on the field like this.
The 49ers move to 5-4 on the season with the win.
