It's no secret San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is a massive fan of professional wrestling. During one of his 2018 postgame press conferences at Levi's Stadium, Kittle was already decked out in WWE gear for a wrestling event taking place that evening over at the nearby SAP Center in San Jose.
As it turns out, Kittle is developing his own fanbase from the WWE, too.
Following the Niners' 24-20 Week 3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Kittle celebrated with a well-known quote among wrestling fans, albeit changed slightly to include the 49ers:
"Can you smell what the NINERS are cookin!?" @gkittle46 | #GoNiners pic.twitter.com/KfDgq8FXGG
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) September 23, 2019
"Can you smell what the Niners are cookin'" is a direct reference to a quote from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's famous WWE tagline, which merely replaces "Niners" with "Rock."
Johnson took notice, too.
IF YA SMELLLL what the NINERS are cookin'.. 👏🏾👊🏾 a long hard road ahead, but 3-0 is a helluva start. Keep havin' fun boys. #eastbay #peopleschamp #peoplestightend @gkittle46 @49ers https://t.co/sSYqAwsdXw
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) September 23, 2019
To make things even better, Johnson referred to Kittle as "The People's Tight End," again using another reference to The Rock's own title, "The People's Champ."
Kittle thought it was pretty cool.
Am I dreaming https://t.co/Peh0c5iouv
— George Kittle (@gkittle46) September 23, 2019
The People's Tight End and his 49ers teammates will enjoy an early bye in Week 4 before hosting the 1-2 Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football in Week 5.