San Francisco 49ers star forced to mute replies after backlash to Ricky Pearsall tweet

San Francisco 49ers long-snapper Taybor Pepper faced a slew of vile and targeted comments on X after tweeting in support of his wounded teammate Ricky Pearsall over the weekend.

Pearsall was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery on Saturday afternoon. He was walking near Union Square in San Francisco after signing autographs when a man tried to still his Rolex.

"Glad to hear Ricky is stable," Pepper tweeted to his over 20,000 followers on X before facing a torrent of negative replies. Many comments related to both Pepper's outspoken left-leaning politics and the fact that San Francisco is a "classic Democratic liberal run city."

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Pepper eventually was forced to tweet, "cannot believe I had to mute replies to my last tweet," garnering over 700,000 views and counting on X.

Pepper drew the ire of some on the platform when he quote-tweeted Pat McAfee earlier this summer. "The Pat McAfee Show" X account posted a video of the show's host seemingly confused over Algerian boxer Imane Khalif's gold medal win.

"'I haven't done enough research.' then stop talking before you broadcast 5 minutes of nonsense to a worldwide audience," Pepper tweeted.

Even Pepper's new tweet indicating he was muting replies attracted some which must have slipped through the cracks. "Democrat," one said, "well that's liberal politics," said another.

”Should be a wake-up call to vote RED. Everyone knows liberal policies have destroyed many communities across California and the nation," another read.

Some came to the defense of Pepper, such as: " People are so brave when there’s a screen between them and the person they’re talking to”

Pepper has played 63 games for the 49ers since joining the team in 2020. He previously had stints with the Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins after graduating from Michigan State.

Pearsall has since been released from the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. The San Francisco 49ers put out a message updating the public on the wide receiver's status.

"He’s sustained a bullet wound to the chest and is in serious but stable condition. We ask that you please respect his privacy at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ricky and the entire Pearsall family.”