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Brandon Aiyuk is running out of friends.
First, he burned bridges with his head coach, his general manager, his teammates, his fans, his agent, and the NFL Players' Association.
But that wasn't enough.
Now, he has beef with supposedly his best friend and former college teammate, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Here's what happened.
On Saturday, a 49ers fan recorded himself approaching Jayden Daniels, who was watching a soccer game in a luxury suite.
As the fan approached, he yelled, "F--- Brandon Aiyuk! F--- Brandon Aiyuk! F--- Brandon Aiyuk! You better not throw to him next year! I'm a Niner fan! F--- Brandon Aiyuk!" As the 49ers fan screamed, Daniels simply laughed and turned away.
Didn't take him seriously.
Defused the situation.
What else was he supposed to do, jump into the stands and beat up the fan to defend Aiyuk's honor? I don't think the Commanders would have liked that.
Apparently, Aiyuk feels that Daniels' response wasn't good enough.
So this afternoon, Aiyuk unfollowed Daniels on Instagram, then posted a picture of himself frowning, and wrote this to Daniels: "Tf always so funny? Turn your savage up." For what it's worth, Daniels doesn't follow Aiyuk anymore, either, which means Daniels most likely unfollowed him today as well.
What a mess.
As you're probably aware, Brandon Aiyuk walked away from the 49ers, forfeited $27 million in guarantees and might have to give back $18.4 million of his signing bonus just so he can get released and sign with the Commanders.
And he wants to sign with the Commanders specifically because their quarterback is his best friend, and he might vouch for Aiyuk to Washington's ownership no matter how childish he acts.
Essentially, Aiyuk has treated Daniels as his get-out-of-jail-free card.
But if Aiyuk has alienated the Commanders' starting quarterback, then Aiyuk can forget about Washington ever signing him.
The only reason Washington would even consider bringing in a headcase such as Aiyuk is that he's supposed to have a great relationship with Daniels, who theoretically can keep Aiyuk in check.
But if Aiyuk is calling out Daniels on social media before even joining the Commanders, then it seems highly unlikely that Aiyuk will be a good, quiet teammate if Washington signs him.
What a mistake on his part.
Aiyuk has to be one of the most self-destructive players in the NFL right now.
He doesn't seem to be violent and he has no substance-abuse issues that we know of, and yet he finds new and unusual ways to hurt his career almost every day.
His social media antics made sense if he had a handshake agreement with the Commanders to sign with them as soon as the 49ers release him.
But if Aiyuk and Daniels are on the outs and the Commanders no longer want to take a flier on Aiyuk, he might not find a team that's interested in his services.
His career might be over.
And he would only have himself to blame.
If Aiyuk had any sense, he would call up Daniels right now and squash this beef before the Commanders lose interest in Aiyuk for good.
But this is the same Aiyuk who still hasn't paid the fine for the speeding ticket he got because he filmed himself driving 100 miles per hour past Levi's Stadium.
There's a warrant out for Aiyuk's arrest.
And he still hasn't filed for reinstatement with the NFL.
And he still hasn't hired an agent after firing his previous one.
And now, he's turning on the one person who can save his career.
One day in the not-so-distant future, Aiyuk will look back and regret all this.
Too bad he currently has zero perspective.
Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011.
He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis.
In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club.
In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers.
In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content.
Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month.
Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season.
Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country.
His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach.
Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993.
The two have a live podcast every Tuesday.
Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010.
He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.
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