Sports

49ers DT Javon Kinlaw Eviscerates Reporter During Wild, Heated Exchange After Practice Altercation

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  • Javon Kinlaw and 49ers beat reporter Grant Cohn do not get along.
  • After a heated exchange during practice, Kinlaw joined Cohn’s show and proceeded to eviscerate him in a wild conversation.
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San Francisco defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw is not one to mince words with the media. When he speaks publicly, he is always raw and calls it how it is.

Earlier this year, Kinlaw joined Brad Graham to discuss a variety of topics. Among them, he spoke on the fact that players are humans too and, like every other human, they have a breaking point when it comes to how they are perceived and discussed in the media.

Well, apparently, Kinlaw reached his breaking point with FanNation’s Grant Cohen. The Sports Illustrated-affiliated reporter is known for his provocative commentary and often upsets athletes with his phrasing or tone.

Typically, players are fairly respectful in pushing back on Cohen when he crosses the line. George Kittle and Jimmie Ward have done so in the past.

Other players, however, will not even give Cohn the time of day. Arik Armstead is one of them.

https://twitter.com/arikarmstead/status/1314338007546093569?s=20&t=fM-2mXqJstM0dTJ4__7SLw

https://twitter.com/arikarmstead/status/1225295567317872640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1225295567317872640%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2F49ers%2Farticle%2F49ers-Arik-Armstead-free-agent-Twitter-Grant-Cohn-15044657.php

https://twitter.com/arikarmstead/status/1226576464063205376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1226576464063205376%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2F49ers%2Farticle%2F49ers-Arik-Armstead-free-agent-Twitter-Grant-Cohn-15044657.php

Needless to say, Cohn is not particularly well-liked amongst the players he is covering and it’s not hard to understand why.

And as of this week, Javon Kinlaw is one of the 49ers players to call-out Grant Cohn.

Kinlaw appeared in only four games last season before undergoing ACL surgery that shut him down for the rest of the year. Since — and even before — then, Cohn has been one of the loudest voices doubting Kinlaw.

Cohn has said the following about Kinlaw:

  • He has an 80-year-old knee.
  • He’s a terrible pass-rusher who is just a two-down player.
  • The 49ers should not have drafted him and should have taken Tristan Wirfs instead.
  • He is unprofessional and immature.

And apparently Kinlaw had enough.

During practice on Tuesday, Kinlaw confronted Cohn directly. According to the reporter, he said that Kinlaw approached him with some choice words and knocked the hat off of his head. More words were also exchanged later in practice.

https://twitter.com/Jeremiah151738/status/1529284761138520064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1529284761138520064%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FJeremiah1517382Fstatus2F1529284761138520064widget%3DTweet

Later that evening, once the day had wrapped, Kinlaw joined Cohn on his YouTube channel.

TO BE VERY CLEAR, Cohn was excited about the confrontation. When the stream began, he said that he was thrilled that Kinlaw called him out at practice because it will only help to boost his brand recognition. And then, after bringing Kinlaw on his stream, the antagonizing didn’t stop as the former first round pick proceeded to lay into Cohn.

The full exchange went on for about six minutes and included an all-time quote from Kinlaw.

“My balls is bigger than yours, brother. Put some respect on my name.”

Here is the most explosive part of the “conversation,” if you can even call it that:

Kinlaw may receive some backlash for his comments. He probably knew that going in.

But he wanted to make his voice heard and he did. And his teammates are backing him up.

Credit to Kinlaw. Credit to the 49ers for speaking out.