Detroit Lions defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson has continued his ongoing feud with San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel.
The back-and-forth began when a video circulated on social media Sunday of a pregame ruckus between the Niners and Cleveland Browns. During the altercation, Samuel and teammates Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams can be seen in a shoving match with Browns defensive back Juan Thornhill.
Gardner-Johnson (who is currently on injured reserve) appeared to start the exchange with Samuel, which stretched into Monday with both sides continuing the argument.
Samuel and Gardner-Johnson (or at least the teams they’ve represented) have a history of smack talk.
Over the offseason, San Francisco’s dual threat said that the Philadelphia Eagles were the team that he hated the most because of their players and fans. Samuel and the Niners lost to Philadelphia (whom Gardner-Johnson played for in 2022) in the NFC Championship last winter.
Samuel has also said that the Eagles only won because San Francisco was playing with their fourth-string quarterback, as Brock Purdy suffered an elbow injury in the contest.
Both players are no strangers to making enemies across the league with their trash talk.
Prior to leaving the Eagles in the offseason, the safety called out his former defensive coordinator, Jonathan Gannon, on social media, blaming him for the team’s shortcomings in Super Bowl LVII.
The 49ers speedster torched Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons last week, saying the former AP Defensive Rookie of the Year wouldn’t want to face San Francisco again after their 42-10 blowout in Week 5. This came after Parsons criticized Samuel’s teammate George Kittle for revealing a profane anti-Cowboys t-shirt during the “Sunday Night Football” contest.