National Football League

Niners' Deebo Samuel blasts Micah Parsons, Cam Newton for Brock Purdy takes

Updated Dec. 28, 2023 6:02 p.m. ET

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is coming off the worst game of his NFL career, as the second-year signal-caller threw four interceptions and posted a mere 42.6 passer rating in San Francisco's Week 16 loss at home to the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Day.

Among the notable critics of Purdy? Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons. The star linebacker asserted in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, during the game that Purdy not taking deep shots with the 49ers down 21 points was a knock on his ability. Meanwhile, two weeks ago, former NFL quarterback and 2015 MVP Cam Newton — who's currently out of the sport — referenced Purdy, among other quarterbacks, as a "game manager" on his podcast and presumably felt his opinion was confirmed by Purdy's outing against Baltimore — which he expressed on Twitter.

49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel is sick of the Purdy slander, especially given who it's coming from.

"First of all, Cam Newton, stop texting my phone bro. You was a fan like two weeks ago. That's made crazy. You wanted me on your podcast after talking about my quarterback, which is funny to me," Samuel said on Wednesday's edition of "Up & Adams" of FanDuel TV. "But back to this Micah Parsons story, like bro, we beat you 42-10 a long time ago. I don't get why he's so bothered by what we got going on over here or whatever the case may be. I don't understand you saying you can be a quarterback in this offense, I don't understand where you're going with that … and he's lost two straight."

San Francisco pummeled Dallas earlier in the year, 42-10, and eliminated the Cowboys from the playoffs in 2021 and 2022.

Those marquee 49ers wins over Dallas are big reasons why "Undisputed's" Michael Irvin and Keyshawn Johnson said Parsons has to tread carefully — especially given that the two teams could easily face off once again in this year's postseason.

Irvin said Parsons has expressed ambitions to him of going into media before, and Parsons also currently has his own podcasts and often shares his opinions of other NFL players on social media.

"I don't have any issue with a man trying to get an early head start [in media]," Irvin said. "Use the platform now and get to meet the people now if you really want to get into the business. … [If] you think it's going to give San Fran some more hype, it absolutely is. But Micah Parsons has to match that. I don't have a problem with guys talking back and forth. I see it as the new NFL now."

"But I want [the Cowboys] to be focused on winning. … If [Parsons] is not showing up on the football field, and he's talking all this talk, then I'll have an issue with that."

Deebo Samuel responds to Micah Parsons after taking a jab at Brock Purdy | Undisputed

Like Parsons, Johnson pursued media opportunities as a player, but the latter says there was one key difference.

"I did not talk about other teams and other players," Johnson said. "I didn't step on the toys, especially after two losses. I wanted to get in and get out. That's the only thing I would say about Micah Parsons. You lost 42-10, man. Don't talk about them. Just leave them alone. Don't light that fire. You lost, they beat your you-know-what."

Both Irvin and Johnson also said they had no issue with Samuel defending Purdy, similar to how Parsons has come to Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott's defense this season.

Plot twist on the Newton front: Newton claimed later on Wednesday that he doesn't have Samuel's phone number.

However, Samuel later posted screenshots on social media of texts from someone claiming to be Cam Newton asking him to come on their podcast then texting him again after Monday's game and again after Samuel's interview with Adams.

The 49ers are 11-4, loosely maintaining the No. 1 seed in the NFC. On the whole, Purdy is putting together a campaign that has him at least in the running to be an MVP finalist. He has totaled 4,050 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, 11 interceptions and an NFL-best 112.2 passer rating, while completing 68.8% of his passes. Purdy has also rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns.

All that said, Purdy's impact on the 49ers' success has been debated due to the abundance of star talent around him in Samuel, running back Christian McCaffrey — who has rushed for a league-high 1,385 yards this season — four-time Pro Bowler and tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk — who's averaging a league-best 18.5 yards per reception.

As for Samuel, the wideout has totaled 53 receptions for 834 yards (15.7 yards per reception) and six touchdowns, while also rushing for 179 yards and five touchdowns. On the whole, San Francisco is averaging 265.7 passing yards (second in NFL), 138.7 rushing yards (fourth), 404.3 total yards (second) and 29.6 points (third) per game.

The 49ers have a road bout with the Washington Commanders (4-11) this coming Sunday (1 p.m. ET and can be viewed on FOX and the FOX Sports app) and then a home game against the Los Angeles Rams (8-7) to close out the regular season.

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