Samuel attended Chapman High School in Inman, South Carolina, where he played high school football and was coached by Mark Hodge. As a senior, he led his team to the Semifinals of the AAA playoffs. He had 166 catches for 2,751 yards and 36 touchdowns during his career, he rushed 133 times for 898 yards and scored 13 touchdowns, he finished with a record of 53 career touchdowns, he also had 94 tackles and 12 interceptions. He won the High School Sports Report Class AAA Offensive Player of the Year, and played in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas. Samuel was rated as a three-star recruit, by the 247 composite. He committed to the University of South Carolina to play college football.
College career
2015 season
Samuel played in five games total, making three starts and struggling with injuries. He suffered a hamstring injury in the season opener against North Carolina. Deebo finished the season with 12 receptions for 161 yards.
2016 season
In his sophomore season, Samuel played in 10 games and led the team with 59 receptions for 783 yards, he also rushed 15 times for 98 yards and six touchdowns. In the Birmingham Bowl against USF, he had 14 receptions for 190 receiving yards.
2017 season
In the first game of the season against NC State, Samuel had five catches for 83 yards, for two touchdowns and also returned the opening kickoff back for a touchdown. In Week 2 against Missouri, Samuel once again returned a kickoff for a touchdown, and finished with five catches for 45 yards, and also ran the ball two times for 30 yards and a touchdown. In Week 3 against Kentucky, on the first play from scrimmage Samuel caught a 68-yard touchdown pass from Gamecock quarterback Jake Bentley. After suffering a season-ending injury later in the game, Samuel would finish the season having not even played three full games, yet accumulated 250 yards receiving for three touchdowns, two carries for 30 yards and a touchdown, and two kickoff returns for two touchdowns for a combined 194 yards.
Injury
In Week 3 against Kentucky, with 2:27 left in the third quarter, Samuel caught a pass from Jake Bentley and was awkwardly tackled by no. 8 Derrick Baity Jr. of Kentucky, bending his leg back. It was announced after the game by head coachWill Muschamp that Samuel had broken his right fibula and would miss the rest of the season. Despite the injury, it was announced that Samuel could possibly return later on in the season, but he suffered a sprained foot in rehab and would not return. Former Gamecock running backMarcus Lattimore had encouraging words for Samuel following his injury, saying: "I know you are down and frustrated and you feel like your dreams are far away now. They aren’t. You can use this moment to show people how to overcome adversity, the whole state of South Carolina loves Deebo."
2018 season
On November 5, 2017, Samuel announced that he would be returning for his senior season. Samuel finished the 2018 season with 882 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns, his best game of the season came against Clemson where he caught 10 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns. He chose not to play in the Gamecocks' bowl game, the 2018 Belk Bowl. He was later selected to play in the 2019 Senior Bowl.
Samuel made his NFL debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, catching three passes for 17 yards and losing a fumble in the 31-17 road victory. In the next game against the Cincinnati Bengals, he caught five passes for 87 yards and his first NFL touchdown as the 49ers won on the road by a score 41–17. During Week 8 against the Carolina Panthers, Samuel caught three passes for 19 yards and rushed for 29 yards and a touchdown in a 51-13 victory. Two weeks later against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football, he caught eight passes for 112 yards in the 27–24 overtime loss. In the next game against the Arizona Cardinals, Samuel caught eight passes for 134 yards in the 36-26 victory. Samuel would have two more touchdown catches over the next two games against the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Ravens, and would add another rushing score in the Week 16 contest against the Los Angeles Rams. In the regular-season finale against the Seahawks on Sunday Night Football, he caught five passes for 102 yards and rushed twice for 33 yards and a touchdown in the 26–21 road victory. During Super Bowl LIV against the Kansas City Chiefs, Samuel rushed thrice for 53 yards and caught five passes for 39 yards during the 31–20 loss. His 53 rushing yards was the most ever by a wide receiver in Super Bowl history. He was placed on the active/non-football injury list at the start of training camp on July 28, 2020.
NFL statistics
Regular season
Postseason
Personal life
Samuel was given the nickname "Deebo" by his father, Galen, after the character named Deebo played by Tiny Lister Jr. in the movie Friday that stars Ice Cube and Chris Tucker.
