George Kittle is probably the most enigmatic, energetic dude on the football field out there. But for those who didn’t know about his charming persona, they can now watch him on Netflix’s docuseries “Receiver.” Did you know that doing the show was the last priority on Kittle’s mind? Also, Kittle got to be on the show because Travis Kelce declined the offer.

The docuseries is breaking all the barriers on Netflix. When the streaming giant followed around Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota throughout the season, many thought that doing the show would take away from the time they dedicate to football. The case was no different for the Niners TE, but thanks to his wife Claire, he ended up letting the camera guys follow him throughout the season.

Kittle’s first thought to the offer was, “probably absolutely not,” but things changed as the season progressed. “I had not watched Quarterbacks like I did not watch it at all and so I was like you know it seems like, you know, adding a bunch of cameras. I did not want to upset the football Gods. Football is a living breathing organism, like it’s got its own shit to it,” said Kittle on The Rich Eisen Show.

The Super Bowl runner-up TE then explained why he came around to do the show. “It’s like adding a spotlight, adding a look at me type of thing, and then you know what really sold it for me  was like because Claire had watched quarterbacks and she loved the show specifically how it showed off like Patrick and Brittany’s relationship, Kirk Cousins and his wife Julie, like how it showed up their relationship and then she made me watch a couple of episodes and I was like ‘Oh I mean this is awesome.”

Quarterback closely follows Mahomes and other QBs in the league and shows their life beyond the football field. You would think that living a life of a football superstar is easy, wait till you watch how much self-doubt they carry daily. Added to that there is always an unspoken pressure to perform on the field. And that’s precisely the reason why Travis Kelce declined the offer to be on “Receiver.”

George Kittle didn’t follow Travis Kelce’s path

They faced off in the Super Bowl against each other so one of them had to get the highlight. However, if you think about it, Kelce’s relationship with Taylor Swift already draws a lot of spotlights in the first place. Moreover, Kelce has already done a couple of reality shows and movies in the past like “Catching Kelce”, and he’s also doing Ryan Murphy’s horror series Grotesquerie, soon to be released on FX.

When asked about his reluctance to indulge with Netflix, Kelce replied, “After Pat did it, I did get asked about it. I’d rather just play ball man. I’m already doing enough with the podcast and everything,” said Kelce. More so, reality TV shows don’t excite the Kansas City Chiefs TE anymore as he explained, “I’m way over the reality. I’m out on that.”

He may have been right to decline the offer because his association with Taylor Swift means that every step has to be taken seriously so he doesn’t step foot on metaphoric landmines out in the open. Naturally, people would be inclined towards the Kelce-Swift dynamic, which the reality show couldn’t have fulfilled.