San Francisco 49ers’ tight end George Kittle is known as a man of the people, but there are limits to what he will do at the request of a fan — including sparking an international incident.
The six-time Pro Bowler recently appeared on the popular Bussin’ With The Boys podcast and got into a discussion on international hockey with co-host Taylor Lewan, whose wife hails from Kelowna, B.C. Kittle revealed that he attended the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal to support his close friend, Swedish winger Filip Forsberg, and was able to watch the round-robin matchup between Canada and the United States on February 15 with an unexpected seatmate: then-Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
“I ended up in the suite with the NHL commissioner (Gary Bettman), who could not have been nicer, and (UFC legend) Georges St-Pierre, could not have been cooler. And then in the third period, Trudeau was in my suite as well,” Kittle said.
“I’m sitting there and I’m off to the side, trying to take up as little space as I possibly can because it’s me, (Kittle’s wife) Claire, and then one of Fil’s buddies. I’m trying to not be in the way, and then like six security guys walk in with the wire in their ears. I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ Turn over my shoulder and I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s (Trudeau). Yeah, no, that’s crazy. I’m just gonna sit over here and just not move.'”
The United States secured a 3-1 victory over Canada in that game, which included three fights in the first nine seconds due to rising political tensions between the two countries. According to Kittle, things were equally heated in the stands, though it wasn’t American fans picking fights.
Due to the layout of the Bell Centre’s suites, the eight-year NFL veteran found himself at the centre of several awkward interactions between Trudeau and angry Canadian fans, who were calling for violence against the leader of their government.
“The stands are right in front of it, so you can interact with the crowd, except there’s less of a wall. I’m talking like they could reach up and touch me, they could just reach back and climb into the suite; that’s how low it is. All these Canadians are yelling at me during the game, and the third period starts, and I had like five people throughout the entire third period just yell at me to punch him in the face. Except they used way worse words,” Kittle recalled.
“He had two security guys who were sitting in front of me, in between me and the fan, and they’re saying, ‘Punch that dude in the face, Kittle.'”
While Kittle, Lewan, and fellow co-host Will Compton joked that he should have just apologized to Trudeau and delivered a blow “for the people,” the 31-year-old native of Madison, Wisc. seemed genuinely troubled by the interaction.
He noted that Trudeau, who had announced his decision to resign as prime minister a month earlier after a decade in the job, was attending the game with his son and handled the situation well.
“He’s just getting chirped the entire time,” Kittle said. “I was so uncomfortable for that period of time. He couldn’t have been nicer. I feel like his son’s right there, just leave the guy alone. It’s a hockey game, man.”
Kittle did get a chance to chat with Trudeau later in the night and no fisticuffs ensued. The moment was memorialized by one of the Bell Centre suite attendants, who posed for a personal picture standing between the 23rd prime minister of Canada and the Niners legend.
“What a weird, weird photo. A one-of-one photo,” Kittle laughed. “Like, what is this? Why do you want a photo with both of us at the same time?”
Even without a bruised prime minister to rally behind — or against– Team Canada got the last blow against United States five days later, when they captured the gold medal in Boston with a 3-2 overtime win over the Americans.
