George Kittle


George Krieger Kittle is an American football tight end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. He played college football for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, and was drafted by the 49ers in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He is a two-time Pro Bowler and a First-team All-Pro selection. In 2018, Kittle set the single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end, with 1,377.

Early years

Kittle was born in Madison, Wisconsin and moved to Iowa at a young age. He attended Iowa City West High School in Iowa City, Iowa, Cedar Falls High School in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma. He committed to the University of Iowa to play college football. His father, Bruce Kittle, also played at Iowa and is a former college football coach.

College career

Kittle played at Iowa from 2012 to 2016 under head coach Kirk Ferentz. As a freshman, Kittle had a limited role behind senior C. J. Fiedorowicz, junior Ray Hamilton, and sophomore Jake Duzey. He had his first collegiate reception, which went for 47 yards, against the Missouri State Bears. Overall, he caught five passes for 108 yards. Iowa's tight end unit remained crowded for Kittle in the 2014 season. Along with the return of Hamilton and Duzey, junior Henry Krieger-Coble added to the depth. Kittle had a lone reception for 25 yards against Maryland as his only catch of the season. Kittle's role expanded in the 2015 season. On September 26, 2015, against North Texas, he scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 43-yard reception from quarterback C. J. Beathard. Overall, Kittle had 20 receptions for 290 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns in the 2015 season. His six receiving touchdowns ranked sixth in the Big Ten Conference. As a senior in the 2016 season, Kittle headlined a tight end unit that contained junior Peter Pekar and freshman Noah Fant. He had his best statistical game against North Dakota State with five receptions for 110 receiving yards. In his senior season, he had 22 receptions for 314 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. During his collegiate career, Kittle had 48 receptions for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

As a top tight end prospect, Kittle was one of 19 collegiate tight ends to receive an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He completed the majority of drills, but opted to skip the short shuttle and three-cone drill. Kittle's overall performance was well perceived, as he finished third among tight ends in the broad jump, fifth in the 40-yard dash, and finished sixth among his position group in the vertical jump. On March 27, 2017, Kittle participated at Iowa's Pro Day, along with C. J. Beathard, Desmond King, Jaleel Johnson, Greg Mabin, Riley McCarron, and four other prospects. He completed his combine drills, finishing the short shuttle, three-cone drill, and also ran positional drills. Scouts and team representatives from all 32 NFL teams attended, including Cincinnati Bengals' tight end coach Jonathan Hayes. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Kittle was projected to be a third or fourth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the fifth best tight end prospect in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock, sixth best by NFL analyst Gil Brandt, and was ranked the eighth best tight end by NFLDraftScout.com.
The San Francisco 49ers selected Kittle in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He was reunited with Iowa teammate C. J. Beathard, whom the San Francisco 49ers drafted in the third round.

2017 season: Rookie year

On May 4, 2017, the San Francisco 49ers signed Kittle to a four-year, $2.69 million contract that included a signing bonus of $298,287.
Throughout training camp, he competed against Garrett Celek, Vance McDonald, Logan Paulsen, Blake Bell, and Cole Hikutini for the job as the starting tight end. Head coach Kyle Shanahan named Kittle the starting tight end to start the regular season.
Kittle made his NFL debut in the 49ers' season-opener against the Carolina Panthers and caught five passes for 27 yards in a 23–3 loss. He caught his first NFL reception on a 13-yard pass from Brian Hoyer on the first drive and was tackled by Panthers' safety Mike Adams. On October 8, 2017, Kittle made seven receptions for 83 yards and his first NFL touchdown during a 26–23 overtime loss to the Indianapolis Colts. During a Week 9 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, Kittle caught three passes for 27 yards, before leaving the 20–10 loss with a leg injury. He was inactive due to the injury and missed the following game against the New York Giants.
Kittle finished his rookie season with 43 receptions for 515 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games.

2018 season

In the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, Kittle had five receptions for 90 yards in a 24–16 loss. During Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers, Kittle recorded an 82-yard touchdown reception as part of a 125-yard performance as the 49ers narrowly lost by a score of 29–27. During Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams, he had five receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown in the 39–10 loss. During Week 14 against the Denver Broncos, Kittle set a franchise record for reception yards by a tight end with 210, all coming in the first half, as well as becoming the first 49ers tight end to surpass 1,000 receiving yards. During the season finale against the Rams, Kittle broke Travis Kelce's single-season receiving yards record for a tight end, less than an hour after Kelce broke the record, on a 43-yard touchdown and finished the season with 1,377 yards.

2019 season

Through the first four weeks of 2019 NFL season, during which the 49ers played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Pittsburgh Steelers, Kittle earned the highest overall Pro Football Focus grade of any player in the NFL. After a Week 4 bye, the 49ers faced the Cleveland Browns. In that game, Kittle had six receptions for 70 yards and his first touchdown of the season in the 31–3 victory. In the next game against the Los Angeles Rams, he caught eight passes for 103 yards in the 20–7 road victory. Three weeks later against the Arizona Cardinals, Kittle suffered a knee injury on the first play of the game and was forced to miss the next few plays. He returned to the game and caught six passes for 79 yards and a touchdown in the 28–25 road victory. However, he was forced to miss the next two games due to the injury. He returned in Week 12 against the Green Bay Packers. In the game, Kittle caught six passes for 129 yards and a touchdown in the 37–8 victory. Facing the New Orleans Saints in Week 14, he caught a crucial 4th and 2 catch that he carried 39 yards down the field, 10 of those yards made while being face-masked by Saints cornerback Marcus Williams. The catch set up the game-winning field goal. The 49ers won 48-46. During Week 15 against the Atlanta Falcons, Kittle finished with 13 catches for 134 yards as the 49ers lost 22–29. Following the loss, he was named to his second Pro Bowl with over 340,000 votes.
In Super Bowl LIV against the Kansas City Chiefs, Kittle caught four passes for 36 yards during the 31–20 loss.

Career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

NFL records

Regular season

Kittle married Claire on April 9, 2019. The couple met at the University of Iowa, where Claire played basketball.