The drama surrounding San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel is not just about his trade request and wanting to leave the Bay Area, he was also the talk of the team for snubbing a young fan who asked for his autograph. A video of Samuel refusing to give the child an autograph appeared on social media and has since gone viral.
The child walks up to Samuel with a football and a Sharpie, looking to get No. 19's signature, but Samuel walks by, looks at the young fan, says he can't sign and keeps walking.
Take a look at the interaction:
Fans were upset, calling out Samuel saying even if he wanted to get traded, he still could have acknowledged the child.
Samuel took to Twitter to explain why he did what he did, but has since deleted the tweet.
The deleted tweet said: "Wasn't gone approach this situation with not signing the kids football. There was 3-500 kids out there that I was paying attention too. Clearly hear in my voice I said I cannot sign. He recorded the video after forcing his kid to do it for the 5th time. I was told too sign pictures."
Some noted that Samuel can be heard saying, "I can't sign that I'm sorry," possibly due to protocols in place by the team.
Samuel has been attending team events, but has yet to rescind the trade request. The 49ers have yet to grant the trade request, just one of many unknowns on the 49ers' offense heading into the season.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was also expected to be traded by many, including head coach Kyle Shanahan, but also remains in San Francisco as he rehabs his injured shoulder. For now, it looks like Trey Lance will get the starting job.
