49ers TE George Kittle’s Tattoos Include One Inspired By Kobe Bryant

Getty Tight end George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers has some unique body art. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

San Francisco 49ers All-Pro tight end George Kittle has loads of personality that is seemingly impossible to contain, both on the field and off. The 26-year old has played three seasons, and has made All-Pro twice; he was a second-team selection last year, and a first-team selection in 2019.

All the more impressive is that Kittle has been playing with a torn labrum for the last two seasons — and it speaks to his toughness and uniqueness that he has no plans to have surgery to repair it. Kittle’s unique and gritty personality can also be seen in his tattoos, of which he has several.

The Bear Paw and The Dark Knight

Kittle has a bear paw on his right bicep, which represents his family crest. It seems to be a Kittle thing, as every member of the family has a bear paw tattoo, according the the tight end. His left arm sports one of his more recent tattoos, the visage of Joker (as played by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight). He got it the day before he got married in April of 2019. The significance of that one?

“I don’t try to channel all the Joker, obviously, because he has some issues,” Kittle told ESPN’s Nick Wagoner. He is, however, all about creating chaos on the field. “Creating a little bit of chaos is just kind of what I try to do,” he said. “I’m just trying to be the most outgoing, craziest person on the field.”

Considering some of the stories his teammates have told, this is exactly what Kittle does. Center Weston Richburg noted that during an October 2018 loss to Green Bay, Kittle knocked a Packers defender on the ground after distributing a vicious block before laughing wickedly. When Kittle ran back to the huddle, Richburg looked at him and asked: “What the f— is wrong with you, dude?”

The Kobe Inspiration

Kittle also has word ‘Believe’ tattooed in all caps on his right arm. That, his father Bruce says, was largely inspired by Kobe Bryant’s philosophy, focus and confidence. “We’ve always been really big on visualization,” Bruce Kittle said back in 2016, when his son was attending the University of Iowa. “After visualization, you have to believe in the vision. Part of my kids’ other educational trauma with me was, at an early age, they were required to set goals and prepare action steps for those goals,” Kittle’s father said.

“Part of the goal-setting process included visualizing successfully accomplishing your goals. The whole ‘Believe’ thing, part of that, too, is he’s a big Kobe Bryant fan. Kobe was big on ‘Believe.’ Part of that for him was coming out not very highly recruited.”

Kittle’s left arm also has what looks like a stock market symbol on it. It’s not. It’s actually Longs Peak, a mountain summit that is part of the Rockies in Colorado. “Me and my dad climb the 14,000-foot mountains every summer,” Kittle said on a radio program in 2018.

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