NFC Championship: Revisiting the beef between the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel and the Lions’ C.J. Gardner-Johnson

The San Francisco 49ers will host the Detroit Lions this Sunday for the right to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LVIII, and this is a rematch from last year’s NFC Championship in a way. While the Philadelphia Eagles are nowhere to be found, we do get a player-on-player rematch from last year’s NFC title game: Deebo Samuel vs. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.

As you’ll recall, Philly defeated San Francisco, 31-7, in the NFC championship game last year after 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy injured his elbow in the first quarter. 

“We lost because we played with 10 people,” Samuel said of the NFC title game last offseason, via Complex Sports. “I ain’t going to keep going on about what could’ve happened and what would’ve happened but yeah, it would’ve definitely been a different outcome (if healthy).”

Samuel also said that the Eagles were his “most hated team” after the playoff loss, pointing to all the trash talk that comes from Philly’s fan base and players. Gardner-Johnson fit that Philly mold perfectly, but he has now brought his energy to Detroit. 

For when Deebo and CJGJ got into it, let’s go back to Week 6 of the 2023 regular season. Prior to the Cleveland Browns’ upset win over the previously unbeaten 49ers, the two teams were involved in a skirmish before the opening kickoff. Multiple players were seen pushing and shoving, including Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, Juan Thornhill and Trent Williams.

Gardner-Johnson saw a clip of the fight, and decided to take a shot at Samuel to ignite the beef:

Samuel responded to Gardner-Johnson with a clip of former Chicago Bears wide receiver Javon Wims throwing hands at him when he was a member of the New Orleans Saints back in 2020. 

“Boy stop playing before you get a rewind of this….. boy sit down,” Samuel said. 

Gardner-Johnson then told Samuel that his star left tackle wouldn’t be able to save him when they run into each other.

“Trent…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfc-championship-revisiting-the-beef-between-the-49ers-deebo-samuel-and-the-lions-c-j-gardner-johnson/

Author : Jordan Dajani

Publish date : 2024-01-26 18:45:01

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