Kittle defends ex-49er Deebo after viral video receives backlash

   

George Kittle has gone from blocking defenders on the football field for former 49ers teammate Deebo Samuel to blocking out his haters on social media.

The alter egos of George Kittle - by Tyler Dunne - Go Long

As footage of Samuel at Washington Commanders minicamp this week went viral, mostly for the wrong reasons, Kittle quickly came to the receiver's defense.

The 21-second clip shows Samuel running routes with his new team, which garnered plenty of criticism for the perceived lack of effort from the 29-year-old.

But Kittle, an eight-year vet, attributes Samuel's effort to the simple fact that it's only minicamp, and a time when coaches and teams are in the process of teaching and practicing a specific set of plays, formations or concepts.

The social media football experts, however, weren't as understanding.

Leave it to Kittle, though, who was teammates with Samuel for six NFL seasons, to have his forever brother's back.

Even repping a different jersey, the red and gold loyalty runs deep for Kittle.