49ers Seek To Identify, Ban Fan Who Sent Racist Messages To Cardinals Safety Budda Baker
SANTA CLARA (CBS SF) -- The San Francisco 49ers announced on social media Tuesday they are searching for an alleged fan who sent Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker a racist message so the team can ban the offender from all future 49ers games and team events.
The team's statement came after Baker shared a message he received on Twitter the day before where the sender called the player several racist epithets and told him he had a bounty on his head.
"Im all good with opposing fans talking trash. But This right here man... All you can do is pray for ppl like this," Baker tweeted. (Warning: Baker's tweet contains extremely offensive language.)
Less than 24 hours later, the 49ers posted their response -- that they were working to identify the fan and ban him from all 49ers events.
"Incidents like this demonstrate how much work remains to be done to address racism and hate in our society," the post read. "We remain steadfast in our commitment to that work."
Jed York, 49ers owner, followed up the statement with a tweet of his own, saying "Permitting these individuals to go unchecked allows racism and hate to spread. I urge other teams in the world of sport to consider our policy of banning those who seek to tear others down with racial slurs and threats of violence."
The message to Baker came after his team beat the 49ers 20-24 on Sunday in their first game of the season. In the first half of the game, Baker hit an airborne George Kittle and bent his left knee as the two came down. Kittle limped to the sideline after the play but returned to the field in the second half.
Kittle later responded on Instagram, "Nothing but respect 32! See you down the road."
The 49ers face the New York Jets next Sunday morning, while the Cardinals take on the Washington Football Team.
