Why 49ers’ George Kittle initially didn’t want to be on ‘Receiver’

George Kittle's unique personality is on full display in Netflix's newest docuseries, "Receiver." However, the San Francisco 49ers tight end nearly passed on the project. During an interview on the "Rich Eisen Show," Kittle shared why he initially didn't want to be featured on the show and what changed his mind.

Kittle revealed to Eisen that he was approached about the project about 10 days before Week 1 of last season. His first response?

"I was like, 'Probably absolutely not.'" Kittle said. "Yeah, absolutely not. This was my thinking behind it: I had not watched 'Quarterback.' I did not watch it at all. And so I was like, 'You know, it seems like you added a bunch of cameras. I don't want to upset the football gods.'

"Football is a living, breathing organism. It's got its own s--t to it—excuse my language. I didn't want to piss anything off. It's like adding a spotlight, adding a look-at-me type of thing."

However, Kittle's wife, Claire, had watched last year's series "Quarterback" and was fond of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the show. She convinced Kittle that there were benefits to participating that were being overlooked.

"Claire had watched 'Quarterback' and she loved the show," Kittle shared. "Specifically how it showed off Patrick [Mahomes] and [wife] Brittany's relationship, Kirk Cousins and his wife, Julie, how it showed off their relationship. And then she made me watch a couple of episodes, and I was like, 'Oh, I mean, this is awesome.' The content that you get to see behind the closed doors, what you get to see with what they do at home, I was really fond of that.

"And then she also said, 'Look, this is something that we're gonna have it, and in 10 years, you can show your kids this.' I was like, 'That's a pretty fair point. I like that.'"

Another person who convinced Kittle to be on "Receiver" was Minnesota Vikings quarterback and former 49ers teammate Nick Mullens. Kittle reached out to Mullens to ask if the cameras around Cousins during the 2022 season were a distraction for the team. Mullens admitted that he never even noticed them until about midway through the season.

Kittle added, "Well, I trust Nick Mullens. He's my guy. If it's good enough for Nick, it's good enough for me."

Days before the start of the season, Kittle approached Kyle Shanahan about his newfound desire to be featured on "Receiver," and the head coach welcomed the idea, especially considering that the tight end was in control of what the camera crews had access to.

"He was pretty open to it, too, which was pretty awesome," Kittle said.

The tight end believes that teammate Deebo Samuel's agreeing to also be on the show probably came sometime after his own decision.