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George Kittle might be best known as the tight end for the San Francisco 49ers, but he, alongside his fashion plate wife Claire, is also an emerging style icon to those in the know who keep up with the NFL player's bold, colorful off-field looks.
"I'm pretty unique, I'm pretty loud. I like to express myself," Kittle said, speaking with "Good Morning America."
With the couple's sartorial know-how garnering attention on social media and beyond, Zenni Optical decided to tap their unique taste for a special eyewear collaboration, The Kittles, which features dozens of frames, from blue blockers for eye safety when working on the computer to stylish sunglasses to elevate any look with a touch of retro pizzazz.
"One of my favorite things about the Zenni collection is that they really came to us and said, 'What do you guys want to do together?'" Kittle said. "Really, we kind of combined our brains together and did it all together."
"I'd say my No. 1 source of inspiration would be my wife," Kittle said. "She does a really good job of steering me in the right direction, because I could just end up wearing a Reptar T-shirt from 'Rugrats' and a pair of sweatpants."
Her impact can be clearly felt in the reigned-in yet unique way the frames in the Zenni collaboration take on a bold personality while remaining highly wearable -- even for the less ostentatious dresser.
George Kittle's more out-there take on fashion is felt in pieces like The People's Frames, a round style with an angular nose bridge and mixed frame colors throughout.
Many of the frames also carry a certain retro flair that packs a punch, something Kittle said is inherent in his upbringing and cultural references. He said he takes a lot of inspiration from old movies, where he claims to "steal from" the stylish ensembles of his favorite characters.
"The way I was raised, the classic '70s, '80s, '90s [fashion], is what I vibe with," he said, adding his preference for strong styles from the past aligns with his approach to football.
"I'm a classic football player -- I like to hit people. I don't really like to run away from them, I like to run into them, so that's just kind of always been my mindset," he said.
"Because my job requires me to look at an iPad for a really long time, or to look at screens to watch film or look at plays, we have the IQ lens -- blue light blockers," Kittle said, noting top priority when curating the glasses in the Kittles collection.
"I wear those almost every single day that I'm in season, because I'm looking at a screen so much," he continued. "Those are one of my favorite things, and I always advocate for those just because we're all looking at screens so much, so why not protect your eyes? In 20 years of looking at screens, your eyes might not be as good, so you might as well protect them now so you can still see later down the road."
Kittle also said he loves the variety of tints in the line, for both the vintage feel and the versatility they offer in different light settings.
"I have a frame called the Haydens," he said, referring to an aviator-like pair of sunglasses with a lightly smoky gradient lens. "Those are inspired from an old Iowa football coach who actually was my dad's coach back in the early '80s. I like to wear sunglasses inside, but I think if you're wearing dark lenses inside, you look a little aggressive."
Athletes have long had unique senses of individual style, from Dennis Rodman's eye-catching public fashion spectacles in the heyday of the mid-1990s Chicago Bulls to the sophisticated suits modern Super Bowl players rock every year on our TVs.
Kittle spoke about why he thinks fashion and sports have such a dynamic relationship.
"Sports are so much fun because, to me, each sport and each athlete is kind of like an artist in your own sense," he said. "You're out there creating something every single time you step onto the court or every time you step on the field. Watching a basketball player score 40 points and do it in a crazy way, it's its own artistic style. Watching a quarterback throw for 300 yards then rush for another 100 is like watching this masterpiece come into play on your television."
Tight End University is a program Kittle started five years ago with Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce and sports commentator and retired Carolina Panthers player Greg Olsen -- all tight ends, naturally -- to bring together players from different areas to train and "build brotherhoood," Kittle explained.
The players share insight and trade tips on everything from making it in the rookies to extending a league career.
"It's hard. Not everybody has great coaches, and not everybody has a great support staff around them," Kittle said. "The thing I've realized is you don't know what you don't know, and whether it's ways to take care of your body, ways to study, ways to watch tape or ways to train, I can help them or guide them. I think it's giving guys a better chance of living out their dreams."
Kittle also said he wants the program to continue on so it can spread a positive message, and he said he loves being a part of it, because now he knows "almost every single tight end" on his opposing teams.
"After every single game, I can go say what's up to them, say hi, take a photo, then say, 'See you guys in June next year.' It's been a really fun brothership thing."
Just for fun, "GMA" asked Kittle to imagine giving up football tomorrow to become a fashion stylist.
The first bit of advice he said he'd give to each client is perfectly in line with what he said fans can expect from him this season and beyond.
"The first thing I would do is make all of my clients shop for a WWE T-shirt and find an old '90s or early 2000s T-shirt they really like, then I would base the rest of their fashion around that T-shirt."
Vintage wrestling tee or not, Kittle's real style advice always involves staying true to your core self, something you can use while shopping his and his wife's Zenni glasses collab -- or for any other piece in your wardrobe.
"I like expressing myself," he said. "That's how I was raised: Express yourself and be consistently yourself every day. That's kind of what we did with the glasses -- each pair is unique to how I'm feeling on a certain day."
