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Terrell Owens Calls Out 49ers WR Deebo Samuel

Good for Owens.

Grant Cohn

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers former receiver Terrell Owens before Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers former receiver Terrell Owens before Super Bowl LVIII against the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
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Terrell Owens does not seem impressed with Deebo Samuel's effort this season.

Owens was one of the hardest-working wide receivers in the NFL -- that's why he's a five-time All Pro and a Hall of Famer. Granted, he wasn't a particularly good teammate, but he maintained a high standard of performance for 15 years.

Samuel has been an All Pro once, which means he had one great season three years ago. Now he's almost 29 and his play is declining. He almost certainly will not be a Hall of Famer. And that's OK.

The problem is that the 49ers pay Samuel nearly $24 million per season and he's not producing. Last week, he had just 21 yards from scrimmage. Jauan Jennings has surpassed him on the depth chart and Ricky Pearsall could soon as well.

"Deebo is not really playing up to Deebo's standards," Owens said on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco. "It seems like he's more focused on his pregame attire than the game. If we can shift that focus, maybe that can energize and create some more production from an offensive standpoint. I'm just being tongue-in-cheek with that."

Good for Owens.

It's about time someone called out Samuel. He needs to hold himself to a higher standard. Ever since he got his big pay day, he has been underwhelming. And if Kyle Shanahan won't call him out and none of the other captains will either, who better than Owens, one of the greatest wide receivers in franchise history?

Maybe Jerry Rice should say something, too.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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