Long-snapper Taybor Pepper was shocked and dismayed that he was attacked on social media over the weekend after posting a comment expressing relief that Ricky Pearsall was OK after being shot during an attempted robbery attempt on the 49ers rookie.
“Cannot believe I had to mute replies to my last tweet,” Pepper posted to social media following an early message of support for his teammate.
Pearsall was shot when a 17-year-old attempted to rob him of his Rolex using a gun and the rookie fought back, leading to multiple shots going off one of which struck him in the chest.
“Glad to hear Ricky is stable,” he had written early, which set off a barrage of negative reactions.
Social media users appeared to take the post as an opportunity to attack Pepper over his political persuasion and another person used it as a chance to criticize the pick.
“Why? Never liked the draft pick anyway who cares,” one social media user callously wrote in response.
“Are you still [a] liberal piece of s–t?” another person replied, according to the Daily Mail.
Pepper appears to have changed his settings on the social media platform so that only people mentioned in the post are able to reply.
The long-snapper has previously been outspoken about politics on social media, including criticizing comments made by popular ESPN host, Pat McAfee, and the performance of former President Donald Trump during a conversation with the National Association of Black Journalists.
Pepper played 17 games for the 49ers last season and has been a member of the team for the past four seasons.
Pearsall was released from the hospital a day after he had been shot on a San Francisco street.
“He and his family, along with the entire San Francisco 49ers organization, would like to thank the San Francisco Police Department, emergency medical services, doctors and staff at San Francisco General Hospital,” the 49ers said as part of a statement after the incident.
