Akers got death threats on Twitter

David Akers ranks 30th in the NFL this year with a field goal percentage of 69.0.

Nhat V. Meyer/San Jose Mercury News/MCT/LANDOV

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -- San Francisco 49ers">49ers placekicker David Akers said Thursday he received death threats on Twitter and closed the account.

Akers received the death threats late last month, but is unsure at the number of threats because he did not go further back on his account to count.

Once he initially saw them, he reported it to team and NFL security personnel.

The 49ers said Thursday they were aware of the situation, and so was the league.

"I didn't go back and look any further," Akers said. "I hadn't been on there for weeks, so I didn't go back and look at any old ones after that. I don't take anything lightly. You really can't. I went through the proper people and what they felt like was safe."

He also revealed Thursday - when kicker Billy Cundiff practiced alongside him in what has become a competition - that he underwent double hernia surgery last February following his All-Pro season.

Akers then went to see the same doctor in Philadelphia after a Nov. 25 game at New Orleans this season to have injections after the area flared up.

Unlike 2011, when he made 44 of 52 field goals, Akers has been in a slump this season. He is 29 for 42 on field goals.

"It's a game, it's a business, it's my career, but it's not who I am," Akers said of football.