On Monday, Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker shared a message he received from an alleged San Francisco 49ers fan, who spewed offensive and racist remarks following Sunday's game between the two teams at Levi's Stadium. The user's icon in the screenshot shared by Baker featured retired tackle Joe Staley's jersey number, making it safe to assume that the individual is a fan of the Bay Area team.
Im all good with opposing fans talking trash. But This right here man... All you can do is pray for ppl like this. pic.twitter.com/Hybq1RmfEd
— Budda Baker (@buddabaker32) September 14, 2020
The 49ers today denounced the individual, stating that the team is working to identify the individual and ban him from all future team games and events.
"The San Francisco 49ers unequivocally denounce the racist messages sent to Budda Baker," the team said via a statement posted to social media. "The individual who sent the messages does not represent the 49ers or the Faithful. Per team policy, we are working to identify this person and will ban them from all 49ers games and events.
"Incidents like this demonstrate how much work remains to be done to address racism and hate in our society. We remain steadfast in our commitment to that work."
Statement from the San Francisco 49ers.
There is no place for hate and we got your back @buddabaker32 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/lq6ilmMDRt
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 15, 2020
The fan seemed to take issue with the hit Baker made on the 49ers' All-Pro tight end, George Kittle, near the end of the first half of Sunday's game. Kittle suffered a knee sprain but continued playing in the second half. The Cardinals ended up winning the season opener 24-20.
Team reporter Keiana Martin probably summed up most fans' feelings about the incident and the 49ers' response.
I applaud the 49ers for speaking out against the disgusting and racist fan comments made to Budda after Sunday's game. https://t.co/5x6m7GLRkb
— Keiana Martin (@KeianaMartinTV) September 15, 2020
49ers CEO Jed York also responded to the statement.
Sadly, these incidents occur far too often. Permitting these individuals to go unchecked allows racism and hate to spread. I urge other teams in the world of sport to consider our policy of banning those who seek to tear others down with racial slurs and threats of violence. https://t.co/iLjPSukvz2
— Jed York (@JedYork) September 15, 2020