San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and his wife Claire were wrongly dragged into a political controversy after a fake quote about Charlie Kirk was spread online.

The fabricated quote falsely claimed Kittle made a statement about politics and Kirk’s place in the NFL.

“I LOVE FOOTBALL BECAUSE IT UNITES PEOPLE,” the statement, posted to Facebook , read. “BUT LATELY, I’VE SEEN POLITICS BEING DRAGGED INTO IT FAR TOO OFTEN. CHARLIE KIRK MAY MATTER TO SOME, BUT HE HAS NO PLACE IN THE NFL. FOOTBALL IS FOR THE FANS, THE COMPETITION, AND THE LOVE OF THE GAME—NOT FOR POLITICS.”

Both George and Claire quickly responded on social media, clarifying that the quote was fake and expressing frustration over the hate messages they received.

“Couple of things…this is a fake quote,“ Kittle

See Full Page