The San Francisco 49ers grabbed their third win of the season in an offensive battle with the Arizona Cardinals, but the real fireworks happened early with Deebo Samuel. He just rewrote the NFL record books, pulling off a mind-bending 80-yard receiving touchdown without being credited with a single reception. Talk about a wild way to make history!
The Play That Shook Up History
You gotta hand it to Kyle Shanahan for this one. On the 49ers’ very first drive, backed up on 3rd-and-12, he called a hook-and-ladder. Pure genius! Brock Purdy threw the ball to Mike Evans, who then incredibly pitched it back to Deebo Samuel. From there, Samuel was GONE, running 80 yards for the touchdown. It was an absolutely electric start to the game and immediately became the highlight everyone was talking about, putting the 49ers on the board in spectacular fashion. What a way to get things going!
Zero Catches, Eighty Yards: The Numbers Don’t Lie
Samuel’s 80-yard play wasn’t just big for getting the 49ers going, it was his only notable play of the day. In fact, it was his *only* receiving play! His stat line for receiving yards and receptions is what landed him in the NFL history books: 0 receptions, 80 receiving yards, and 1 receiving touchdown. How does that even happen? It’s all because Samuel never actually caught the ball from Purdy. That 80-yard chunk came from a lateral from Mike Evans, which means, technically, no reception. Eighty receiving yards without a single catch is an NFL record, blowing past Timmy Brown’s 65 yards from way back in 1961. Who knew that was even a record up for grabs?
The Rest of Deebo’s Wild Afternoon
What makes this even crazier is that Samuel was still second on the 49ers in receiving yards for the game, just behind George Kittle’s 82. Think about that for a second: a guy gets 80 receiving yards and it’s almost all on one play, without catching a pass, and he’s still a top receiver for the day! Purdy threw 27 passes in the game, but Samuel didn’t even get a single target. He did add two more touches on the ground, rushing for 14 total yards with a long of 11, but those, of course, didn’t count toward his historic receiving stat line.
What’s next after a crazy record like this? It’s just proof that you never know what kind of history can be made on any given Sunday in the NFL. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, a player like Samuel shows up and reminds you why we watch.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by The Sporting News.
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