Whoops. Giving a player a casual call just hours before the trade deadline? Not always the best idea. San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch was reminded of that on Tuesday.
Wide receiver Deebo Samuel was in the middle of a commercial shoot, likely not focused on the looming trade deadline—until his phone rang, and he saw it was Lynch calling.
Samuel casually downplayed the moment, saying it didn't make him anxious. When asked this week what he thought seeing Lynch's call, the receiver replied, "Nothing really. I just answered the phone."
Lynch, however, shared a very different perspective.
During his weekly KNBR interview, Lynch explained that his daughter, Lindsay, who works for the NFL, was leading the shoot with Samuel. She even surprised her father by stopping by his office with a coffee. Naturally, Lynch decided to give Samuel a call.
"Deebo and I are pretty close," Lynch explained. "And so I said, 'Hey, Deebo, I just wanted to let you know Lindsay's here, and she's leading the shoot.' And I could see Deebo was kind of stunned."
Later, Lindsay informed her father about the unintended panic, noting that calling one of your star players just hours before the trade deadline was probably not the best idea.
"After the shoot, which was hours, Lindsay came back in my office and said, 'Dad, you can't do that. Deebo thought he was getting traded when you called. You can't call a guy on the trade deadline.'"
Lynch laughed, admitting, "What a rookie move by me. I've been doing this for some time now. And Deebo and I had a good laugh throughout the rest of the week, as did many of the guys on the team."
You can listen to Lynch's entire interview below.
