Getty Deebo Samuel during a July 2021 training camp practice.
The sports loves a good rivalry — a la Boston and New York, Chicago and Green Bay, Pittsburgh and Cleveland or out west, Los Angeles and San Francisco — and the latter witnessing an uptick in the heated battle between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
The two NFC West rivals are entering this season as trending Super Bowl contenders once again, especially after battling each other for the right to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 56 which was snatched by the Rams.
And with rivalries come words getting exchanged…and the latest ones involve the Rams’ newly paid $95 million defender Aaron Donald and a strong response from the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel.
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What Samuel Responded to
A fully padded Donald helped spark the latest word exchange on the Rams and 49ers’ side.
Donald, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year let it be known to the NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano and Maurice Jones-Drew: He has no love for the 49ers.
“I dislike the Niners. Everybody knows that. I don’t like the Niners at all,” Donald told both following the Rams’ July 30 “Back Together Saturday” practice. “They don’t like us. It’s just the rivals. Every time we play, it’s a dog fight, and that’s how it is. No love at all towards them guys. I really dislike them, and we’ll see them twice this year.”
“I don’t like the Niners at all. They don’t like us.”
“No love at all towards them guys. I really dislike them.”
One more from @AaronDonald97, stating the obvious.
❓from @MJD @nflnetwork
Samuel got his chance to clap back when the NFL Network crew set up their spot in Santa Clara and sat down to discuss the rivalry between the 49ers and Rams. The 2021 All-Pro’s response was?
“Our team don’t really feed into all the junk talking,” Samuel told Tom Pelissero and Jones-Drew.
But Samuel dove further and how they choose to respond to the 49ers’ name being mentioned.
“We put the pads on. We go out there and do what we do, even though we fell short one game (last season). But it is what it is,” Samuel explained. “We’re not a team to go out in the media and be like, ‘Who is this person? What this person do?’ We just put the pads on and go to work.”
Catching up with Deebo Samuel today at #49ers camp about the contract, Trey Lance and more on @nflnetwork @MJD
Samuel & Donald: A History
It’s certainly not the first time Samuel and Donald got involved with some words that became viral on social media.
Back in 2020, Donald was asked about how do the Rams stop a “unique player” like Samuel on the field…which only prompted a “Who? Who’s that?” response from A.D.
Samuel, though, threw shade online twice to Donald, the first one via his Instagram stories before that November game:
Deebo responds to video on IG 😂
Then the other coming after the 49ers defeated the Rams to sweep the regular season series, with Samuel posting a Gif of a frustrated Donald throwing his helmet to the Levi’s Stadium grass:
Samuel also called out Donald’s fan base the “Rams House” after the 49ers’ epic Week 18 win of the 2021 season to clinch the final playoff berth, telling the Bay Area media “I feel like the Rams pump noise because there wasn’t really that many Rams fans in here.”
Donald and the Rams, however, have what the 49ers want in the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The fact that both teams enter this season with two of the more complete rosters in the league further fuels the newest chapter of this L.A. versus S.F confrontation.
“It’s a big rivalry,” Samuel admitted to the NFL Network. “That’s one of them physical games you know you got to get ready for.”