The 49ers and Rams displayed their in-state rivalry in a brief shoving match during the teams’ Sunday meeting in Los Angeles.
Jalen Ramsey was the instigator for the Rams, and the player he chose to target was someone with whom he has a surprising history of confrontation: 49ers kicker Robbie Gould.
Following a point-after attempt in Sunday’s 31-14 win for the 49ers, Ramsey was seen bumping and shoving Gould — something that caught officials’ attention but otherwise did not draw a flag:
Jalen Ramsey really trying to find out with Robbie Gould 😂 pic.twitter.com/roqFoayfvR
— Alex Tran (@nineralex) October 30, 2022
Gould didn’t seem to take offense to the brief run-in with Ramsey, telling reporters after the game he understands Ramsey’s competitiveness amid a rivalry game.
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“It’s just a rivalry game,” Gould told reporters afterward. “I think everyone understands the significance of it. I think he asked me for my jersey for Christmas, probably. That’s probably the easiest thing to say in those situations, but we won and move on to the next.”
The two players had another, slightly less intense run-in their NFC championship meeting on Jan. 30, a 20-17 victory for the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams. Again, Ramsey got in Gould’s face, this time after the latter kicked a go-ahead field goal at halftime:
Jalen Ramsey and Robbie Gould jawing with each other is the last thing I expected to see this week.pic.twitter.com/mKA1Y5nN4L
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 31, 2022
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Long snapper Taylor Pepper also spoke about the confrontation between Ramsey and kicker, saying he was told not to step in to protect a teammate in such instances for a very specific reason.
“After last year I was told to not intervene so we could get a penalty,” Pepper told reporters. “We know who Jalen is. We know all those guys. It’s a rivalry game in the NFL. It’s going to get chippy, it’s going to get lots of words exchanged, and poke little buttons here and there.”
Pepper added he thought it was odd that Ramsey kept targeting Gould, but said it was nonetheless “badass” that his kicker has something of a history with the Rams cornerback.
“Not against a kicker, but it’s kind of badass if you ask me,” Pepper said. “I like it. But I stay out of it now. I just supervise and if it gets out of hand I’ll step in, but we’re trying to get a penalty if he does that again.”
