Opinions will vary about this.

It’s certainly been an interesting 48 hours for the San Francisco 49ers. On Thursday, they landed Nick Bosa, an edge rusher many viewed as the best player in the 2019 NFL Draft. After a Thursday evening conference call in which he got one question about his social media usage, Friday brought a press conference in which he was pressed rather heavily by Jim Trotter and one other non-beat writer about his social media.

And then came Saturday morning. Donald Trump decided it was worth offering congratulations to Bosa on being selected by the 49ers. Frankly, I’m amazed he held off dumping on the city in the tweet.

Bosa had been a vocal Trump supporter on social before deciding in the lead up to the draft to delete much of his Twitter history. He still “likes” certain far right elements, but he acknowledged in his media sessions this week that he will be cutting back on social media to a certain degree.

The 49ers first round pick first spoke to the media on a conference call Thursday night. In that call he got a question about his social media posts and what was described as their conservative nature. He was asked his plan moving forward and if coming to the Bay Area gives him any pause given that it is liberal.

“No, I love the Bay Area, and I’m excited to play there. I was a little insensitive in some of the things I said, so I’ve learned a lot in the past few months, and I’m just ready to move forward from that, put it in the past, and bring the Faithful some wins.”

That call was exclusively the beat writers and folks who regularly cover the team. On Friday, it was a larger audience, and it resulted in more push-back on the social media. The last question sounds like it came from Cam Inman, while the others came from media national reporter Jim Trotter and another person I did not recognize. Bosa was asked about understanding why people might find his social media use offensive, and then asked why he called Colin Kaepernick a clown.

His social media presence has been a regular source of discussion, but this is the first time that I can recall where he was so specifically challenged on it. I’ve transcribed the entire thing, and you can click here for video.

Bosa seemed uncomfortable but was responsive to the answers. I imagine we’ll have roughly three camps on this: 1) I don’t care about any of it, 2) he sounded sincere and is making an effort, and 3) he’s working with a PR person and is not sincere. I’m sure opinions will vary plenty on this.

Here’s the full transcript for these particular questions.

Q: You said, relating to some of the social media stuff, that you said some things that were insensitive. Can you understand why some folks would find it to be offensive — what was said?

A: Definitely. I definitely made some insensitive decisions throughout my life, and I’m just excited to be here with a clean slate. I’m sorry if I hurt anybody. I definitely didn’t intend for that to be the case. But I think me being here is even better for me as a person because I don’t think there’s anywhere, any city that would help you grow as much as this one will. I’m gonna be surrounded with people, all different kinds. So, I’m gonna grow as a person. I’m gonna be on my own. College, you have kind of like that, you still have that support system around you. Now, I’m here, I’m gonna be on my own, I’m gonna grow up, I’m gonna learn a lot of new things. So, I’m excited.

Q: You said about Colin, you called him a clown. And as a black man who was giving a voice to people who don’t have a voice, do you still feel that same way.

A: Umm, no. It wasn’t directed towards that. It’s not like I’m saying his stance and what he was doing, it’s not what I was calling or talking about at all. It was just me, a specific thing that happened and me as a young kid, a thought popping into my head and boom, decided to tweet it out. Bad decision. I mean, I respect what he’s done. If it empowers anybody than he’s doing a good thing. So, yea, I apologize for that.

Q: You see the irony that you end up in San Francisco given that?

A: Yea, it is kind of ironic.

Q: What do you have to tell your teammates? Do you feel like there’s a part of you that needs to explain kind of some of those posts that you made on social media, and how they view you and accept you?

A: I think once they get in and I meet the guys and they learn who I am, I don’t think there’s gonna need any explaining. I think they’re gonna see who I am as a person and that’ll be enough.

Q: Why did you feel the need to scrub your tweets and your previous tweets and social media posts that kind of revealed a certain mindset, if you will?

A: It’s kind of what prospects do a lot of the time. My agent took control of my social media when it comes to that, so I wasn’t going through and saying “delete this, delete this, delete this.” He just went through and deleted what he thought would rub people the wrong way. I didn’t think people would take that as me trying to hide things.

Q: How is your use gonna be going forward, Nick? Are you gonna be very hesitant to do it, are you gonna be more about constantly putting your opinions out there?

A: Yea, I’ve learned a lot in the past couple months, so I’m definitely gonna think a lot more before I send something out.

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