Getty Deebo Samuel catches during 2023 training camp on July 27, 2023. Did Samuel pull a prank on the 49er rookie wideouts?
As part of the NFL version of an initiation process, rookies were forced to open their wallets and use some of the money the San Francisco 49ers gave them for this apparent $15,000 purchase: Dinner.
Captured by The SF Niners on X Sunday, August 13, Deebo Samuel was filmed looking at a receipt and revealing this significant dollar figure: $15,134.30.
“Let me get the droid out and call your banks!” Samuel is overheard saying at the Las Vegas restaurant they dined at.
#49ers rookie WRs had to pickup a $15K dinner tab in Las Vegas for their rookie dinner duties 😭
Reactions Come, Plus Samuel Reveals if it Was the True Amount
The reactions flooded on social media with wonder if the rookies had enough to pay that amount.
@TheSFNiners Deebo got his grub / drink on. 😂
One other fan wondered what exactly the 49ers ordered that ran the bill up.
“Daaamn that’s wild. What is that they’re ordering that’s making a dinner 15k? Gold encrusted lobsters? 20 bottles of crystal? Like why is a dinner 15k,” the fan asked.
One more fan made this observation: Someone ordered tater tots for, what for it, nearly $30
But that was considered a wide receiver dinner. One fan began thinking of something more expensive: A night out for offensive linemen.
“If a rookie WR dinner is $15K, imagine a rookie OL dinner,” the fan said.
But was that the true full amount? Especially with the spark in reactions toward that hefty dinner bill? Samuel cleared the air.
“Lol was prank,” Samuel said online. “Wouldn’t do our two rook wideouts like that. Funny to see how scared they got though.”
So what did they have to cough up from their bank account?
“Tab was only $2,500,” Samuel said.
Who are the Rookie Newcomers to the 49ers’ WR Room?
So the fist time members of the 49ers’ wideout room survived burning a significant hole in their wallets and got pranked by the 2021 All-Pro Samuel. But who are the new guys joining Samuel and company during the preseason?
Ronnie Bell
He was the lone draft pick at WR for the 49ers in the seventh round.
Bell, out of Michigan, played five seasons in Ann Arbor. He went on to snatch 145 career receptions for 2,269 yards and scored nine touchdowns.
His best season came in his final collegiate campaign — which saw him catch 62 passes for 889 yards and scored four touchdowns.
The 6-foot, 180-pounder ran a 4.54 time in the 40-yard dash and additionally had to overcome a 2021 ACL tear.
Isaiah Winstead
Winstead is the lone undrafted rookie in this group.
He’s also the more towering figure at 6-foot-4, 213-pounds. And he comes over via East Carolina.
But his previous stops were with Norfolk State of the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) realm then in the Mid American Conference (MAC) with the Toledo Rockets — where he spent his first two collegiate Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) seasons and totaled 63 career catches there for 949 yards and scored four touchdowns.
Yet, his numbers really ascended when he gave American Athletic Conference football a try through the Pirates. His lone season witnessed 88 receptions, 1,085 yards and scored six touchdowns…all boosting his NFL chances.
Of course, he’s best known for grabbing online attention, including from the 49ers, for this viral clip he shared after going undrafted.
6’4 210 moving like this. No mini camp invite or UDFA deal. Behind the scenes on what I can do. With 88 catches & 1100 yds this past season… God makes no mistakes tho thank you in advanced 🙏🏾