Harrison Smith 'sorry' for hitting George Kittle below the belt
Feeling as fresh as possible after a Tuesday morning massage, Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith joined The Pat McAfee Show the day after the Vikings took down the 49ers 22-17 on Monday night.
They talked about plenty, including Creed in the locker room, the Vikings putting it all together, Kirk Cousins being on fire, on playing the Niners without star left tackle Trent Williams, and his big hit on George Kittle that left the tight end with some below the belt pain.
Smith on Cousins and Creed music: "He's pretty into Creed right now so we had that bumpin' pregame before the tunnel," Smith said. "Just trying to keep it loose."
He then confirmed that it's true he said there's no need for the pregame prayers because Creed is the work for them.
"Yeah, you could tell the guys were feeling it. I don't think most people even know who Creed is at this point, as far as the young guys, but you get the O-line going and Kirk and a few other guys, it's very popular right now."
Smith on the Vikings putting it all together: "Kind of the first few games we couldn't put it all together. When the defense needed to make a play we weren't making it. When the offense needed to, they weren't. It wasn't matching up. But we all know what's there."
It all came together in the win over San Francisco.
"The Niners are really, really good," Smith said. "I think we just kind of took that as a challenge, like we can show to ourselves more than anybody else that we can be who we think we are and it was just a good opportunity for us."
Smith later compared the Vikings to an amoeba, saying they "just try to be what we need to be. It's a lot of fun, we're wiggly."
Smith on the 49ers playing without Williams: "That guy is a guy and when he's not on the field you feel a little safer. When he gets his paws on you you're pretty much done for the play," Smith said. "Once he gets you, maybe just shut it down for that play and save your energy."
Smith on hitting Kittle in crotch: "That's my guy, too. And like, that's really the only place I can hit him, though. I'm trying to keep my head out of it. Right when I got up he was like, 'Man, you hit me right here.' I was like, 'I'm honestly sorry about that.' I'm like, 'I'm sorry but I have to, there's no other option."
George Kittle “right in my dick” 😂😂😂 he’s a character pic.twitter.com/b4JGRB2NZe
— Alex Micheletti (@AlexMicheletti) October 24, 2023
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.