Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams share a unique pre-game ritual, leading the San Francisco 49ers onto the field with Samuel's choice of music. Despite the age and experience gap, Samuel, a five-year veteran, and Williams, a league presence since 2010, share great mutual respect.
Williams joined the 49ers a year after Samuel was drafted. The star receiver recalls a pivotal moment when he recognized the veteran offensive lineman was a next-level player capable of teaching him how to approach the game with the right mindset.
Samuel quickly learned that self-evaluation was just as crucial as evaluating your opponent. During a recent appearance on "The NFL Report" podcast with Steve Wyche and James Palmer, the 49ers wideout was asked when he realized Williams was on a different level in terms of talent.
"It's crazy because I go back to COVID year with this answer," Samuel said. "We had to move out of San Jose or whatever and move to Arizona."
The 49ers weren't allowed to play at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara because of local COVID restrictions and had to change their home base to State Farm Stadium, generously offered up by the Arizona Cardinals. That meant spending the final month of what turned into an injury-plagued and forgettable season in the desert.
This challenging period revealed Williams' commitment to his craft.
"Me and Trent had an Airbnb down there at the time," Samuel continued. "And I would just be chilling, walking around the house, playing the game or whatever, and I see Trent in there watching film 24/7. So I came in there one day, and I'm just like, 'Bro, let me just see what you're watching.'"
Samuel witnessed a dedicated Williams studying his own performances, analyzing every move, and anticipating opponents' actions.
"He's literally watching himself and the things that he do and how he attacks people and know literally every move that a person is going to do is just crazy to me," Samuel shared. "And it just transferred over to the field. You can see the way he practiced on Thursdays, and it just carried over to the game on Sunday."
Maybe not so coincidentally, Samuel had a breakout year the next season, accumulating 1,770 scrimmage yards and 14 total touchdowns. The standout performance earned him a significant contract extension.
Still considered one of the most dynamic players in the game, Samuel racked up 1,117 scrimmage yards and 12 total touchdowns this season, helping propel the 49ers to an NFC West title and the top seed in the playoffs.
Whether hauling in deep passes or running the football out of the backfield, Samuel will surely break tackles and frustrate opponents. His willingness to adapt to any role for the team's success has always been evident. It's a commitment that mirrors the team's collective mentality.
"I take pride in still being able to play this game I love to play for one," Samuel stated. "But I mean, it's just my mentality. I'm a selfless player, and I'm going to do whatever it takes for this team to get where they want to be, and whatever it takes that [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] asks me to do, whether it's go kick return or be a running back here and get in the lineup right beside Trent and kind of pin the defense in.
"Whatever it is, it's just the mentality of this team, and it's not just me. It goes from—Brock's (Purdy) the quarterback, so he's not doing no blocking—but it kind of go on down from [RB] Christian McCaffrey to all the wideouts to the tight ends to the O-line. The way that we go out here and go about our business, you can just tell it's just one big group that loves the game, playing football."
