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After the San Francisco 49ers made Brandon Aiyuk the No. 25 overall pick in April's draft, the wide receiver received a message from Deebo Samuel, who welcomed him to the team.
"We just built our relationship even more since then," Aiyuk told reporters on Friday. "I went up to Tennessee. I was with him pretty much the whole time."
Samuel and Aiyuk were among several 49ers in Tennessee for player-organized practices in June. That's when Samuel suffered the Jones fracture of his left foot that forced him to miss the season's first three games.
Aiyuk and Samuel's bond continued when the two arrived in Santa Clara for training camp.
"When I first got out here, I was with him," Aiyuk shared. "Before we started practicing, he was coming to get me, pick me up, take me places, take me around.
"So, our relationship is getting stronger and stronger. Me and Deebo, and the whole receiver room, really, I think it's just really like a brotherhood in this unit, and I think these are people I'm going to have long-term, life-long relationships with after football."
Aiyuk and Samuel make up one of the most dynamic young receiver pairings in the NFL. Aiyuk's 541 receiving yards lead the team, and he is on pace to become the first rookie to lead the 49ers in receiving yards in a season since wide receiver Gene Washington did so in 1969.
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