Deebo Samuel

49ers GM Lynch hilariously regrets calling Deebo before trade deadline

Share
NBC Universal, Inc.

John Lynch had Deebo Samuel sweating a bit with his poorly timed phone call Tuesday, and the 49ers general manager now expresses regret about the timing of it all.

Samuel revealed on his "Cleats and Convos with Deebo Samuel" podcast earlier this week that he was at the 49ers facility for a photo shoot when he looked down at his phone and saw the big boss calling -- just two hours before Tuesday's 1 p.m. PT NFL trade deadline. Understandably, he panicked before picking up.

Three days later, a very remorseful Lynch joined KNBR's "Murph & Markus" show to detail his side of the story and how things played out.

"My eldest daughter, I'm real proud of her, she works at the NFL league office in Santa Clara," Lynch said. "She went out and got that gig on her own, I didn't even know about it until she got it. So they sent her out for a commercial shoot with Deebo, so she came up to my office, brought me a coffee in the middle of the morning, and, Deebo and I are pretty close, so I said, 'Hey Deebo, just want to let you know, Lindsay's here and she's leading this shoot.' And I could see Deebo was kind of stunned. He knows my family. And he never said anything.

"And then after the shoot, which was hours after, Lindsay came back into my office like, 'Dad! You can't do that. Deebo thought he was getting traded when you called. You can't call a guy on a trade deadline.' What a rookie move by me. I've been doing this for some time now, and Deebo and I had a good laugh throughout the rest of the week as did many of the guys on the team."

Rookie mistake indeed.

Samuel further explained on his podcast how nonchalant Lynch was about the phone call, meanwhile, the star wide receiver was trying his best to keep his cool.

San Francisco 49ers

Find the latest San Francisco 49ers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

How Guerendo has prepared for opportunity as 49ers' lead back

49ers star CMC vows to ‘come back better' after latest injury

He joked that Lynch even brought up the "zebra shoes" his daughter was wearing so "you can't miss her" at the shoot. Because that's what was important at the time, right?

The 1 p.m. PT deadline came and went, and after all that, Samuel still remained a 49er. Aside from stressing out one of the team's biggest stars, Lindsay also was upset with her father about one other thing.

And it's safe to say the 49ers exec has learned his lesson on all fronts.

"My daughter was just upset because I said she had zebra shoes on -- they were cheetah print," Lynch said. "Deebo loved her shoes. I didn't even think of it!

"I will never call a player at 11 o'clock on the trade deadline again if I'm not doing something."

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast

Contact Us