Early on, it appeared to be at least a possibility that Antonio Brown would eventually be headed out of Pittsburgh and to the Bay Area to play with the 49ers.
Once reports surfaced that the seven-time Pro-Bowl receiver might want out of the Steel City, 49ers tight end George Kittle immediately sprang into action, tweeting "Sup?" at Brown on New Year's Eve.
Sup? @AB84— George Kittle (@gkittle46) January 1, 2019
Well, the star tight end revealed Wednesday that he sent the tweet on a dare from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
"Jimmy totally dared me to do it," Kittle said, via Pro Football Talk. "And I am not going to say no. [I] threw it out there, and I thought it was going to be completely meaningless, and I got a response in about 10 minutes. I was like, ‘Oh, that's exciting.' It was fun."
Brown responded back about 20 minutes later and the rumors started to spread like wildfire.
Sports
🤩 https://t.co/pA9fiuEX0f— Antonio Brown (@AB84) January 1, 2019
49ers general manager John Lynch admitted that his team was interested in acquiring Odell Beckham Jr., but wasn't really involved in the trade talks for Brown, who eventually wound up across the Bay with the Raiders.
[RELATED: Game-by-game predictions for 49ers' 2019 season]
As for Garoppolo, he would neither confirm nor deny that a New Year's Eve dare sparked the tweet.
"It depends who you ask," Garoppolo said. "He said it was (me)? I'd take it with a grain of salt then."
As it stands, the 49ers still are looking for a top-tier wide receiver to take their passing game to the next level.
While San Francisco is expected to take Nick Bosa with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, there are a number of wide receivers Lynch and Kyle Shanahan could look to take in the second round.
