Niners’ Kittle Disses Tim Tebow With High-Profile Snub

George Kittle, the San Francisco 49ers‘ All-Pro tight end, is partnering with former NFL player Greg Olson to host the inaugural class at Tight End University this week in Nashville, Tennessee.

However, one high-profile player at the position is not on the guest list.

Kittle appeared on the popular Pardon My Take podcast Monday, June 21, where he was asked about those who will be in attendance. The hosts of the show were particularly interested in whether or not Tim Tebow, former NFL quarterback and current tight end hopeful for the Jacksonville Jaguars, would be invited to participate. The answer might upset the diehard Tebow truthers who remain devoted to the polarizing and iconic football figure.

“I wish nothing but the best for Tim Tebow, and I hope he has a fantastic season playing tight end, but it’s hard for me not to invite a backup tight end on, let’s say the New York Giants, as opposed to inviting a guy who just started playing the tight end position because we do have limited spots,” Kittle said in the interview.

“I wish I could make it so every NFL tight end can come, (so) it’s accessible to everybody,” Kittle continued. “But what we tried to do this year, we wanted to pay for everything for all the tight ends that come to kind of make it a special event for all tight ends.”

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Tebow’s Exclusion Was Not Personal But About Space, Kittle Says

Kittle added that he hopes to expand availability to all tight ends at some point in the future and bring Tebow into the fold as early as next year.

However, this offseason, there simply was not enough room for the 33-year-old trying to reinvent himself on the football field.

“We booked up an entire hotel,” Kittle said Monday. “They’re completely out of rooms. We have every room taken. We blocked off a certain amount of rooms, so we’re completely out of rooms. We thought we were going to get like 20 guys, and the next thing I know, we have 47 confirmed as of last week, and I think we just got past 50. Just, wow, that’s a lot of guys.”

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Tebow Has Yet to Earn Right For Invite to Tight End University

While Tebow is technically listed as a tight end with an NFL squad this offseason, he has yet to make the official roster or play in a game as primarily a pass catcher/blocker.

Olsen, who is co-hosting Tight End University with Kittle, said Tebow needs to prove himself a viable player at the position before an invite would be warranted.

“If he’s on a roster this year, and he plays tight end, we would love to have him, we would love to work with him,” Olsen explained. “Once he’s officially a tight end, we would love to work with him.”

Tebow has not appeared in an NFL game since the 2012 season. In total, he’s appeared in 35 games, starting 16 of them, all at the quarterback position. Throughout the course of his career, Tebow threw for 2,422 yards with 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also rushed for 989 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Tebow has been targeted as a wide receiver only once in his NFL career and has never caught a pass.

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