Playing on your sport's biggest stage is cool, but meeting your heroes is cooler.
George Kittle, the 49ers star dubbed the "People's Tight End" by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson earlier this season, met the wrestler-turned-actor-turned-wrestler-turned-global-star at Super Bowl Opening Night as part of a video shoot Monday at Marlins Park in Miami. There, Kittle was told he would meet Johnson.
"And I was like, 'Hold up, what?' " Kittle recalled to KGO-TV. "And I turn around and all of a sudden he's chest-to-chest with me, and he's just really big and he's really sweaty. He goes, 'What's up brother?' And I was like, 'Oh my goodness ...'
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"So, it took me about 20 minutes to calm down and recover from that. I had no idea what was going on after that point, I was so star-struck."
Kittle, who led the 49ers with 85 receptions for 1,053 yards during the regular season, also said Johnson gifted him a bottle of his unreleased tequila. The tight end apparently had as much fun meeting the wrestler as the wrestler did meeting the tight end.
This is where I'll refrain from making a joke about Kittle smelling what "The Rock" is cooking if they meet for a meal.
[RELATED: Gore says he misses 49ers fans ahead of Super Bowl LIV]
San Francisco 49ers
Johnson played football for the University of Miami before becoming "The Rock," and he beat John Cena in WWE's WrestleMania XXVIII at the same stadium Kittle and the 49ers will take on the Kansas City Chiefs at during Super Bowl LIV on Sunday.
Whether or not that coincidence bodes well for Kittle, he definitely won't forget this week.
Programming note: NBC Sports Bay Area feeds your hunger for 49ers Super Bowl coverage with special editions of “49ers Central” all week (8:30 p.m. Thursday, 9:30 p.m. Friday, and 3 p.m. Saturday).
Also tune in at 1 p.m. on Super Bowl Sunday for a two-hour special of "49ers Pregame Live" with Laura Britt, Donte Whitner, Jeff Garcia, Ian Williams, Kelli Johnson, Greg Papa and Grant Liffmann. That same crew will have all the postgame reaction on "49ers Postgame Live," starting immediately after the game.