George Kittle, vividly remembers his first impression of fellow 49ers star Deebo Samuel.
In appearing on Samuel’s “Cleats and Convos” podcast Tuesday, the "People’s Tight End" hilariously revealed his first thoughts on San Francisco’s Swiss Army Knife.
“Wide back,” Kittle told Samuel and co-host Liv Moods. “He was a thick guy.”
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“Yo?” Samuel humorously responded.
“What?” Kittle asked in response. “In the nicest way possible. Like, yeah. That’s horrible. I’m going to die for that one. He was a large human.”
Kittle, realizing he might have been too blunt, still doubled down.
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“Yo?” Samuel asked again.
“What?” Kittle reiterated. “Am I still going too hard? Pause. That’s horrible. But he was just a bigger wide receiver. And … he was fast as hell. And every time he would catch the ball, he would just hit people.
The pair of 49ers offensive weapons have been teammates since Samuel’s rookie 2019 season. Then, Samuel emerged on the scene as a versatile wide receiver who recorded 802 receiving yards in 15 games.
Kittle, with San Francisco since it selected him No. 146 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, long has admired how Samuel adapted to professional life. Samuel initially entered the 49ers organization thinking he was just playing football; the wideout quickly learned that the sport is a business and full-time commitment as much as it is a children’s game.
“That light switch hit for Deebo and all of sudden he’s having these great games,” Kittle recalled. “All the little things started picking up for him. It wasn’t just ‘I’m playing football.’ It was, ‘I’m playing, it’s my job, it’s football, like, I have to go and do this stuff.’
“Then, the next year, he starts going off, and then in 2021 he gets better, and then he just keeps getting better and better. It was fun seeing the light switch flip [during] his rookie season.”
For years, Samuel and Kittle have been All-Pros in San Francisco’s juggernaut of an offense. But Kittle remembers when Samuel was just a “wide back” rookie.