Each week, I present the Golden Nugget Award to a San Francisco 49ers player who had an outstanding game or managed to defy the odds. Week 4's award goes to third-year wide receiver Deebo Samuel. The other nominees for this week's award were quarterback Trey Lance for coming off the bench and displaying why the 49ers traded up to the No. 3 overall pick to draft him, defensive ends Dee Ford and Nick Bosa for showing dominance along the defensive line, and running back Trey Sermon for his 19 carries for 89 rushing yards against the Seattle Seahawks.
Samuel, whose real name is Tyshun, received the nickname Deebo, the name of the notorious bully from the movie "Friday," from his father Galen, because he always took things away from people as a toddler.
The 49ers lost the game against their NFC West rivals 28-21. However, Samuel had a dominant performance to solidify himself as one of the top receivers in the NFL.
Samuel set the tone before the game when he rode a beach cruiser to Levi's Stadium, dressed like the character "Deebo," who was played by the late actor "Tiny" Tommy Lister, who passed away on December 10, 2020.
With the 49ers down 21-7 to the Seahawks in the third quarter, Lance found the third-year receiver for a 76-yard touchdown reception, making it a one-score game.
"I really didn't realize how open I was until I saw the ball coming at me live," Samuel said after the game.
In the fourth quarter, with San Francisco down 28-13, the rookie quarterback led the 49ers on a 13-play, 80-yard drive, which ended with Samuel fighting his way into the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion by Lance made it a 21-28 game with 1:20 left on the clock.
Seattle recovered the ensuing onside kick, and with no timeouts left, the Seahawks ran down the clock and beat the 49ers.
Samuel dominated the game with 156 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Through four weeks, he leads the NFL with 490 receiving yards, is averaging 122.5 receiving yards per game, and owns three touchdown receptions.
The 2-2 49ers will travel to Arizona to play the undefeated Cardinals at 1:25 p.m. PT on Sunday.
Sports has been my first love since I was 12 years old. At one point I wanted to play football professionally. I started to take photography as a hobby in my teenage years but this was when I followed sports. I started to listen to sports radio, I found my true calling and it was to be a sports talk show host. Though I follow football and basketball, I started to have a new love of cultures around the world. After graduating from San Antonio College in 2018, I worked for the Castroville News Bulletin before going to A&M San Antonio to get my communications degree. Since I have written for the Ranger of San Antonio College, the News Bulletin and the Mesquite of Texas A&M San Antonio, I met many people and went to a lot of events. My major milestone was being in the press box of the San Antonio Commanders game for the Mesquite and being apart of a press conference with the Medina County Sheriff and other local news outlets. When I am not doing anything, I like to watch old cartoons on the DC Universe, play video games such as Mega Man and the Mass Effect series. I have also created Youtube channel called "Anger Management" with my friend Aaron Donnell.
The opinions within this article are those of the writer and, while just as important, are not necessarily those of the site as a whole.
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