The star wideout had the final word on the 49ers—Eagles rivalry.
Deebo Samuel snuck in the last word on the brewing NFC rivalry between the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles.
The 49ers star fielded questions at Super Bowl LVIII media day on Monday night, and one reporter ventured to ask Samuel about his thoughts on his team's not-so-friendly competition with the Birds.
Delivering a savage quip for the ages, Samuel said, “I consider rivalries close games. We ain’t going to talk about that no more. That’s over with.”
The All-Pro wideout was alluding to their most recent matchup in December, when the 49ers walloped the Eagles, 42—19, at Lincoln Financial Field. However, San Francisco has won just four of their last seven against Philly dating back to the 2011 season, which would suggest that contrary to Samuel's argument, the 49ers—Eagles rivalry is alive and well.
Last February, the Eagles took down the 49ers in the NFC championship 31–7 after San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy went down due to injury in the first quarter. Samuel memorably called Eagles cornerback James Bradberry “trash” and claimed that the conference title game “wouldn’t have been close” if Purdy didn’t suffer an elbow injury.
With a 23-point win in the regular season this year, Samuel got to prove his point a bit.
The two teams didn’t get a playoff rematch this year as the Eagles got bounced in the wild-card round while the 49ers, newly crowned NFC champions, booked their ticket to the Super Bowl to play the Kansas City Chiefs.
Words alone may not squash the beef between Samuel and Bradberry, but a Lombardi Trophy might.
