The man at the center of the Tommy Pham, Joc Pederson drama has broken his silence.
49ers running back Jeff Wilson Jr. spoke to reporters about his involvement in the fantasy football dispute between Pham and Pederson that led to allegations of cheating, an on-field slap pregame, and a three game suspension.
“That was crazy, man,” Wilson said after 49ers OTAs on Wednesday. “Actually Robbie (Gould) was the first person that told me about it. And man, I was just like that was crazy. I guess I was just honored to be in the conversation.
Shout out to Joc for having me on the team and taking one for the team.
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Ahead of the Giants vs. Reds series that began on May 28, Cincinnati outfielder Tommy Pham had an altercation with San Francisco outfielder Joc Pederson in which Pham walked to the outfield during batting practice and slapped Pederson full force.
"He did some s— I don’t condone," Pham said, per The Athletic. "So I had to address it.”
"It was a surprise," Pederson said. "He kind of came up and said, like, I don't know, 'Remember last year?' And I was like, 'Fantasy football?' He was like, 'Yeah.'"
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Pham steadfastly denied that the moves Pederson made were within the rules and was upset because the fantasy league had a $10,000 buy-in. He believed that his chances of winning were being put in jeopardy by Pederson's alleged cheating.
Pederson said he put a player on his injured reserve list one week when the player was listed as out. He then added another player to his roster as a result. Pham didn't take kindly to that move and accused Pederson of cheating by stashing extra players on his bench.
However, Pederson pointed out that the rules of their league allow fantasy owners to put players listed as out on IR. He also noted that Pham was doing the same thing with Wilson. Pederson also said that the exchange happened "over a year ago," so Pham had evidently been holding a grudge long-term.
"I looked at it like he was f–ing with my money along with the disrespect," Pham said.
Pham was hit with a three-game suspension for his now infamous slap.
As for Wilson? He’s just happy to be part of all of it.