Cardinals safety Budda Baker made a regular football play late in the first half of Sunday’s season opener when he read a screen pass for 49ers tight end George Kittle, and wrapped up the much bigger tight end around the legs for a stop. The play resulted in a knee sprain for Kittle though after he came down awkwardly during Baker’s tackle. Kittle wound up missing only one snap and played the entire second half.
After the game, Baker found on his Instagram an expletive-laden, racist message from a user with a 49ers-themed avatar and Instagram handle. He posted a screenshot of the NSFW message on Twitter and wrote, “Im all good with opposing fans talking trash. But This right here man… All you can do is pray for ppl like this.”
What was said in the message went beyond trash talk. So much so that the 49ers issued a statement about the message:
Statement from the San Francisco 49ers.
There is no place for hate and we got your back @buddabaker32 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/lq6ilmMDRt
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 15, 2020
Kittle also took to social media to show his support for the safety:
Kittle and Baker will see each other again Week 16 when the 49ers and Cardinals square off in Arizona. Hopefully there’s additional action from the NFL to ensure that person is banned from all NFL venues and events.
