WATCH: 49ers player goes off in bizarre abuse-laden tirade against NFL reporter
San Francisco 49ers player Javon Kinlaw was clearly not having the best of days. Analysis and questioning by an NFL reporter led to him going on an abuse-filled rant against him.
NFL reporter Grant Cohn, who covers San Francisco, was at practice when Kinlaw approached him during practice and an unusual interaction took place with the player knocking Cohn's hat off his head.
But this was not the end of it. When Cohn walked past the player later that morning, the player started rapping at the reporter, repeating the words:
"Boy you a bitch, a suck-ass bitch"
It seems the player was displeased with some of the comments Cohn has made over the years. Comments regarding his the defensive tackle's knee, his performances and his maturity.
49ers player Javon Kinlaw and NFL reporter clash
The training field was not the end of the matter. Later on, Kinlaw called in on Cohn's show to give him a piece of his mind. Unfortunately, the discussion veered well off course and escalated.
Kinlaw took exception to the way he and other San Francisco players have been portrayed by Cohn. He repeatedly asked what joy the reporter gets out of demeaning people. To which, Grant Cohn replied that his job was to analyze the performance of the 49ers players and he got a lot of joy out of that.
Kinlaw does not agree and thinks that the reporter treats San Francisco players as subhumans. When Cohn was asked which analysis of his made Kinlaw feel that way, it led to the interview deteriorating.
What followed was a bizarre expletive fuelled rant where it steadily went down into the gutter. An exchange from Kinlaw towards Cohn involved the following statement:
"Stop playing with me. I don't (expletive) play like that. You don't (expletive) know me. I'm not the one. My whole family knows what you look like."
At this point, the situation was irretrievable and Cohn later commented that he took the statement to mean a threat since Kinlaw said that his family knew what we looked like, which followed the assumption that he could be identified should they feel the need. He pointed out the same on Twitter.
Warning: Strong Language
Javon Kinlaw to me just now: "Stop playing with me. I don't fucking play like that. You don't fucking know me. I'm not the one. My whole family knows what you look like."
That sounds like a threat.
Players must remember that analysts and reporters are there to do a job and being in the arena means that they have to deal with the boquets and the brickbats. Threatening a reporter is a dangerous idea and should be wholeheartedly condemned.
Kinlaw has been a San Francisco 49er since 2020 when he was drafted 14th overall. He missed the majority of the 2021 season due to a torn ACL. One would hope that he minds his practice more than off-field distractions as he tries to get back into shape for the upcoming season. Much will be expected from such a high draft pick by the 49ers fans, who have unfortunately been limited to just 18 outings in his first two seasons.
It remains unclear as to the real underlying issue at hand here, but the 49er was clearly agitated. The defensive tackle was clearly fired up and was not interested in anything the reporter had to say. Whether the relationship between the two can be mended remains to be seen, however, it surely can't get much worse.