It was an unfamiliar sight on Thursday with the San Francisco 49ers 5x Pro Bowl tight end George Kittle dressed in full Bruins’ gear, after Kittle lost a bet following UCLA defeating Kittle’s alma mater Iowa 20-17 last Friday.
“Storied rivalry, Iowa-UCLA,” Kittle joked in a video posted by The Athletic reporter David Lombardi. “I’m just a big Bruins fan this week. Yeah, no. The Hawks’ just did not get it done against UCLA so both Brendel and one of our equipment managers put me up to this once.”
Even though Kittle faced UCLA in his college career, he joined in on the newfound conference rivalry with offensive lineman Jake Brendel and a 49er staffer. Brendel was with the Bruins’ from 2011-2015 where he was a team co-captain for three straight seasons and being named to the All-Conference Second Team twice.
Despite setting the school record in games started Brendel went undrafted in the 2016 draft, initially signing with the Dallas Cowboys before getting released and playing three seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Brendel left the Dolphins after the 2018 season and didn’t return to NFL action until 2021 with San Francisco, where he’s stayed since.
“This does feel better than Iowa State I will say,,” Kittle added, after he previously had to wear Brock Purdy’s Iowa State helmet after the Cyclones’ win over Iowa earlier this season. “Significantly better.”
UCLA and Iowa have now played each other ten times, with the first matchup taking place back in 1938 where the Bruins got a 27-3 win. In the matchup against the Hawkeyes, UCLA is now 8-2 with last week’s matchup being the first since 1985.