49ers TE George Kittle gives unexpected opinion on Eagles fans

Fans of the Philadelphia Eagles have a reputation for making things quite difficult for opposing teams, particularly during win-or-go-home January games. 

San Francisco 49ers players will be reminded of the type of atmosphere those supporters can create when the 12-5 Niners face the 11-6 Eagles for a wild-card playoff matchup at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field this coming Sunday afternoon. While speaking with reporters on Thursday, 49ers tight end George Kittle suggested he admires members of the Philadelphia faithful.

Why George Kittle appreciates Eagles fans

"The one thing that's really unique about Philly is that they don't really — I mean, maybe like a division rival's different — but any other road team that comes in there, they hate all of us equally," Kittle explained, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "And I just appreciate that. It's incredibly loud. They flip you off, they moon you on your bus ride in —but they do that to anybody. It doesn't matter if you're the Niners, it doesn't matter if you're the Jacksonville Jaguars. It doesn't matter. They just give you that, no matter what, and I appreciate that because you can tell how much they love their team."

New York Giants pass-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux has made it known on multiple occasions that he isn't fond of Eagles fans, some of whom allegedly made vulgar comments toward his mom during a game held in Philadelphia. Last January, Los Angeles Rams pass-rusher Jared Verse said before his team's divisional-round playoff game in Philadelphia that he "hated" Eagles fans and found them "so annoying."

Those fans helped propel the Eagles to a win over the Rams during what became the franchise's latest Super Bowl run. 

George Kittle "thoroughly" enjoys playing road games in Philadelphia 

"I just thoroughly enjoy it because it's so unique every single time," Kittle added about playing in Philadelphia. "I'll never forget my rookie season, the year they won the Super Bowl. We're pulling in, it's my first time playing in 'The Linc,' and there were like four 10-year-old kids holding a seven-foot-tall papier-mache middle finger that had like a rotating thing on it, and it made the middle finger come up. And I was like, 'That was the coolest thing.' I'll never forget it. It was my rookie year, and I was like, 'Oh, this is excellent.' That was pretty good."

As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the 49ers as 5.5-point road underdogs against the Eagles. If nothing else, "The Linc" should be loud from the opening kickoff up through the final minutes of the fourth quarter unless the game turns into a blowout.