GETTY George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers looks on during practice for Super Bowl LIV at the Greentree Practice Fields on the campus of the University of Miami on January 29, 2020 in Coral Gables, Florida.
George Kittle is one of the best two or three tight ends in the NFL, but the best player on planet Earth? Well, according to Kittle, that’s this other guy on his team.
The San Francisco 49ers were ravaged by injury last year, perhaps the single largest reason they were unable to make it back to the playoffs and defend their NFC Championship crown. One of the major Niners contributors who went down was pass rusher Nick Bosa, and he went down early.
Bosa tore his ACL in Week 2 of the 2020 regular season against the New York Jets, and the Niners defensive front was never the same. It did not help that the team lost another elite pass rusher in Dee Ford the week before. But now, with Bosa back, Kittle said the Super Bowl and beyond is the Niners limit. Or, in other words, if the team is playing its best, they have no limits.
“Nick Bosa is one of the best players I’ve seen in my entire life,” Kittle said of the third-year pro. “We want to win a Super Bowl. It is not out of our grasp. We have a lot of guys coming back.”
Niners Bringing a Number of Players ‘Home’ Next Season
GettyTight end George Kittle, of the San Francisco 49ers.
Kittle spoke about Bosa to Heavy.com as part of an interview intended to highlight a partnership between the tight end, ESPN, and USAA.
The partnership offers fans a look at Kittle’s “home base” in Nashville, Tennessee, where he trains in “The Barn,” a top-of-the-line workout center he has constructed on the expansive property. There, Kittle says, he surrounds himself with only the best, most ambitious, and most accountable people to push himself to improve every day.
The notion of home is important to most Americans, but particularly to military members, who sacrifice for their country in unfamiliar places across the globe. Upon returning to their homeland, it is also important they have a home base of their own, which is what Kittle said the partnership is really all about.
Kittle grew up around several military members within his own family, including his grandfather, and mentioned “…multiple high school buddies in the military I’m still in touch with that inspire me.”
Home means a lot of different things, especially to a man like Kittle, who moved around a lot growing up — from Wisconsin, to Iowa, to Oklahoma. Home is the place you’re in, but also the people you’re with.
As such, San Francisco and the 49ers organization has become something of a second home for the standout tight end during the NFL season. He said he loves being with the Niners because it’s great “… to be around people that actually care about you.”
“They don’t expect anything of you except to be yourself,” Kittle said. “They’ve allowed me to be myself … an outgoing guy, and loud and obnoxious from time to time, but they hold us accountable.”
“As long as you’re working your tail off, you can be who you wanna be.”
GettyNick Bosa, of the San Francisco 49ers, silences the crowd.
Kittle said it’ll be a hell of a thing to welcome back the proverbial wild man younger brother who is Bosa along the defensive line.
Bosa is member of Pro Football Focus’s Top 25 Under 25, coming in at No. 4 on the list. His Niners teammate, linebacker Fred Warner, who just signed the richest deal in the history of the position, tops the list at No. 1.
Bosa is expected to join Warner in the starting lineup for the Niners regular season opener in Detroit against the Lions on Sept. 12. That combination is downright terrifying for defenses, according to PFF analysis.
“We have only seen one year of Nick Bosa in the NFL, with injury robbing us of an encore last season,” Sam Monson, author of the PFF article, wrote. “Still, that one year was devastating. Bosa notched 80 total pressures as a rookie, breaking the PFF rookie record. He was still cooking by the Super Bowl, too, where he notched 12 pressures in a losing effort to try and contain Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.”
If both players can stay healthy, along with Ford, the Niners could have not only one of the youngest defensive corps in the league, but arguably the best.
In that scenario, Kittle and company might be bringing a Super Bowl trophy home with them to San Francisco come February.