San Francisco 49ers star tight end obviously loves the game of football. You can see it in the joy and excitement he shows on the field every time he suits up.
That is why it may come as a shock that his favorite sports movie is not a football one.
Kittle appeared on the Why is Draymond Green Talking About Football? podcast with, of course, Draymond Green and NFL Insider Jordan Schultz. The conversation covered many topics from Green's alternate career as a football player to Kittle's Tight End University, but eventually they got to Kittle's favorite sports movies.
As of late, Kittle has fashioned himself something of a movie critic, so he is clearly becoming an authority when it comes to film. At this rate, he may be the next Roger Ebert when his playing days are done.
Kittle was asked by Schultz to name his top five sports films and here is what he had to say. The transcript for the conversation was provided by Burson Media:
Schultz: How about top five all-time sports movies?
Kittle: Ooh, top five all-time sports movies. Um, let's see. I hear my wife's voice in my head, so, Remember the Titans no matter what...Throw you for a loop, Cars. Lightning McQueen, that boy's a dog...I'd have Happy Gilmore on there...Friday Night Lights was one I grew up watching...Honestly, Miracle might be my number one.
Kittle is referring to the 2004 film Miracle which is about the "Miracle on Ice" when the U.S. men's hockey team defeated the Soviet Union for the gold medal in 1980 in one of the biggest sports upsets of all time.
Kittle went on to talk about how huge of a hockey fan he is and how he did not miss a home Nashville Predators game a few years back. He even said he thought watching hockey might be superior to watching football because there are fewer breaks and there is just constant action, which is not the case with football.
One might be surprised that Kittle would not have a football movie as his number one, but Kittle is clearly a Renaissance man. He loves WWE, plays golf, and watches a ton of movies, so even though he is known for what he does on the gridiron, it is not a shock that he has such love for hockey.
The Niners are going to need Kittle to be on his game the rest of this season as they try to make the postseason. He ended the conversation on a positive note after Green congratulated him and the team for sticking in there and remaining relevant despite all of the injuries, saying, "Yeah, Niners, man. Who knows? We just keep winning games."
If San Francisco takes care of business in the final four weeks of the regular season, then the team should be in a good position as it tries to make another postseason run.