Super Bowl: George Kittle knew 49ers would be back in big game
The 49ers' George Kittle reacts after a touchdown reception against the Packers during the first half of an NFC divisional playoff game on Jan. 20 in Santa Clara, Calif. Credit: AP/Carlos Avila Gonzalez
LAS VEGAS — Standing on the sideline, absorbing the reality of a loss to Kansas City in a Super Bowl four years ago in which he had only four catches, tight end George Kittle made a prediction. It was actually more of a promise. It wasn’t directed at anyone other than himself, and he certainly had no idea it would be picked up by the ever-present microphones that collect such soundbites.
“I will be back here,” he said, somberly and matter-of-factly, belying his often raucous style and the flair for fun he generally exudes. “I will be back here. I will be back with a vengeance. You will not get the best of me. No, sir.”
He was right.
The 49ers are back. They are facing Kansas City again. And Kittle, the NFL’s Inigo Montoya, is not only with them, he’s a huge part of the reason why San Francisco is on the verge of fulfilling his vow in Super Bowl LVIII.
Kittle was asked about that soundbite this past week — what it meant to him then and what it means now.
“My entire life growing up, I was taught to speak things into existence because if you don’t speak them, if you don’t tell yourself those things, if you don’t say them out loud, how are they ever going to happen?” Kittle said about the clip of his blood oath that went viral shortly after it was delivered and has come roaring back to life ahead of this game.
“Things don’t just come from chance. You have to work for what you get. I didn’t look back at that video every day, I didn’t do that by any means, but saying I would be back, has that influenced me a little bit? Sure.”
Kittle led all NFL tight ends this season with 1,020 receiving yards, and in the postseason, he has caught 10 more passes for 108 yards and a touchdown.
He may be the “other” tight end in this game, given the enormous bump in popularity Kansas City’s Travis Kelce has received since his relationship with pop star Taylor Swift became public earlier this season, but if the 49ers win Sunday’s game, Kittle might very well be the biggest reason.
Even Kelce himself seems to recognize that.
“He’s been playing lights-out, playing the best football of his career and really catapulting that San Fran team through the playoffs, man,” Kelce said. “I couldn’t be more proud of him . . . Couldn’t be more honored to go up against George in another Super Bowl.”
Those two players — who joined up to form the annual offseason gathering of others who play their position that has become known as “Tight End U” — have managed to form a very close relationship. Kittle, four years younger, would always watch Kelce’s NFL film throughout his college career.
“And then I got the opportunity to meet him in 2018 and he was nothing but incredibly kind to me,” Kittle said. “He traded jerseys with me, which was one of the coolest moments ever for me at that time.
“I remember an interview popped up and I got asked, ‘What was the coolest thing that happened to you in 2018?’ and I was like, ‘Well, Travis Kelce followed me back on Instagram.’ That was a big deal for me and just for him to become a friend of mine. It’s been awesome. He’s my guy.”
These days Kittle is known nearly as much for his long blond hair, the waving and winking he does at the skycams that hover over the field during games, and other gleeful antics as he is for the plays he routinely makes.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan spoke about the evolution of Kittle from his rookie year to now and the jump he made in his production — and his personality — very early on.
“You go back and watch him in his first year and he didn’t have wristbands on, wore his socks real weird and had a clean-cut haircut,” Shanahan said. ”And then in his second year he was the WWE champ.”
It didn’t matter, though.
“When you play that well and you work that hard and you are that consistent,” Shanahan said, “it’s pretty easy to be a leader.”
And now Kittle has the chance to lead San Francisco to a Super Bowl championship. He is a cornerstone of the 49ers’ offense, a flagpole for their style and swagger, and a tone-setter in their locker room and on the field.
Perhaps on Sunday, with his four-year-old pledge ringing in his own ears, he will be proved something of a prophet, too.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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