Since being selected first overall, Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza has quickly become one of the league’s most likable and wholesome players.
However, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle believes there is more to the story.
Kittle also sees Mendoza’s overly virtuous image as a reason fans may root against him, and he shared his thoughts in a humorous exchange with WWE superstar Seth Rollins on an episode of “The Kittle Things.”
When asked which NFL quarterback was the biggest “babyface”—wrestling terminology for a heroic character fans are meant to cheer—Claire Kittle, the 49ers tight end’s wife, replied, “I said [Fernando] Mendoza on the way in.”
“Oh, no. No. That kid is a heel. Yeah. Number one overall pick,” Rollins said.
In wrestling, a “heel” is a villain character whom fans are supposed to root against.
“Mendoza is a heel. Number one draft pick, he has won a national championship and signed with the Raiders. He projects a super‑kind persona, but, as Kittle put it, ‘he’s gonna kill you,’” added George Kittle.
“He pretends to be all goody‑two‑shoes, but under the table he’s got the gun. Yeah, I think he’s a heel,” Rollins responded.
The fact that he plays for the Raiders—a franchise that has long embraced a villainous identity—only strengthens their argument.
In essence, Kittle and Rollins contended that Mendoza’s very charm and success are what mark him as a heel: he has almost too much going for him.
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