San Francisco 49ers long snapper Taybor Pepper has found a fan in Good Morning Football host Kyle Brandt, who awarded Pepper with his Week 10 game ball. Brandt praised Pepper for standing up for his kicker, Jake Moody, after the second-year player struggled with three missed field goals before ultimately hitting the game-winner against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It was Moody's first game back after suffering a high-ankle sprain during Week 5. During Sunday's game, wide receiver Deebo Samuel expressed frustration with Moody, but Pepper intervened to defend his teammate.
Deebo Samuel grabbed the neck of long snapper Taybor Pepper and swiped at kicker Jake Moody after a third missed field goal pic.twitter.com/wFIK3p38DR
— Ollie Connolly (@OllieConnolly) November 10, 2024
"Jake was having a little rough patch there," Pepper said after the game. "Just standing up there for Jake because there was still time on the clock, so the game wasn't over, and everybody knows what happened at the end."
Brandt, who was thrilled to hand out the game ball, passionately applauded Pepper's support, much to the delight of his co-hosts.
"You might think they have some special teams problems. Not him," Brandt declared Monday morning. "That's him ... stepping in for his kicker as the star wide receiver shoves him in the throat. And then Taybor Pepper walks after him, chirps him, as Deebo continues to walk away. All 6-4, 250 pounds of the long snapper, saying, 'Don't come over and talk to my kicker. ... We got us. You mind your business. You do what you gotta do. We have a young kicker who's having a really tough day. The last thing he needs is you coming over chirping him.'
"I love Taybor Pepper. He's a veteran in this league. He's a Michigan State man. He's a family man. He is a strong, true San Francisco 49er. ... Specialists are very put upon all the time. They get the butt of a lot of jokes. Don't mess with those specialists sometimes. They've had it up to here. They will mess with you back. Taybor Pepper. Don't start nothing or he'll finish it. Pepper brings the salt!"
After the game, Samuel admitted his frustrations got the better of him as the team faced the prospect of allowing yet another victory to slip from their grasp in dramatic fashion.
"Normally, I don't even get like that, but just frustrated in the heat of battle," Samuel explained. "You know, really close game, and I kind of got out of character a little bit. But I'll talk to Moody, and we'll get past it."
