San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa had an incredibly impressive outing against the Cleveland Browns at Levi's Stadium on Monday night. One of his many memorable plays was delivering pressure on quarterback Baker Mayfield and forcing an intentional grounding penalty late in the first half.
But it wasn't the play itself that made it so memorable.
After the play, Bosa trolled Mayfield by mimicking the waving and then planting of a flag on the field. You can watch the celebration below.
BOSA JUST PLANTED HIS FLAG IN SAN FRAN 😤 @nbsmallerbear pic.twitter.com/wsoVZVAXiX
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 8, 2019
In college, Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners upset Bosa's Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. Mayfield ran over and grabbed an Oklahoma flag, waved it, and planted it into the logo on the stadium field.
Ohio fans may have forgiven Mayfield, but Bosa remembered.
The 49ers rookie was asked about the celebration after the 49ers' dominating 31-3 win on Monday night.
Nick Bosa (@nbsmallerbear) asked about his flag plant celebration during #49ers vs. #Browns. pic.twitter.com/21xe20SRm7
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) October 8, 2019
"I'm sure my Buckeye fans know (the motivation behind the celebration)," Bosa said. "A couple of years back, Baker planted the flag in The Horseshoe, so I had to get him back for it."
Bosa shared with reporters in the 49ers locker room after the game that he practiced the celebration during the team's bye week. It was a good rendition of Mayfield's college celebration.
"I practiced a little bit in my room," Bosa said. "The image was in my head pretty good so I kind of had a good idea."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan didn't see the actual celebration but was asked about it after the game.
"What kind of flag did he plant?" Shanahan asked. "As long as it wasn't an Ohio State flag or something, then I'm cool with that. Hopefully, it was a Niner flag, and he didn't offend anybody.
"Hopefully, he enjoyed it. I got no problem with it, but I didn't see it, so hopefully, it's not as bad as it could be."
Some of Bosa's teammates enjoyed the celebration.
"I loved it," tight end George Kittle said. "I love Baker Mayfield. I think what he does is incredible. His attitude, and just how he plays the game, and how he approaches it. He's a tough son of a guy (he was voiding some inappropriate language there).
"Nick and his little revenge there was awesome. The flag plant is incredible, and Nick played a hell of a game tonight."
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said he knew Bosa was going to do the celebration against the Browns.
"He told me a couple of days ago about the whole Baker thing, doing that back in Ohio, and I was like, 'Yeah, you definitely got to do that,'" Buckner said. "Him ballin' out tonight, he took it personally. When he started doing the celebration, I wanted to run up and congratulate him and everything, but I had to give him a little space so he could do it. It was pretty cool to see."
