George Kittle on 49ers’ 2-0 Start and Why He LOVES Playing for Kyle Shanahan

Rich introduced George Kittle as "as delightfully human as there is," and the 49ers tight end spent the next 20 minutes proving it, with a detour through Cabo, a thrift store hat, and a binding wager on Iowa against Michigan.

It started with the hat. Kittle was wearing a Stally cap from a company started by a buddy of his, a former Iowa and Buffalo Bills offensive lineman who called everyone "stallions." Rich asked for some. Kittle offered three, Rich wanted four, and the deal was done. Rich offered a pillow for Kittle's dog in return, which is how the segment got its first warning label.

"It's a Tuesday in September," Kittle said. "The Niners are playing well. Feeling good about ourselves right now."

Rich went right at the Australia debate. With the Rams finally having played a game, the question was whether San Francisco beat Los Angeles or jet lag did. Kittle was polite and firm. "I think we're a pretty good team. So, I think straight up we beat the Rams," he said, while noting the Rams have incredible talent and that Aaron Donald looked pretty good the night before.

The Niners were told they were going a week early, and the Rams went two days before. Kittle said that after two days there he was "totally in a brain fog and sleepy and tired," and he laughed at Sean McVay's recent admission that sometimes you just make a bad decision. "I appreciate the accountability," Kittle said.

As for why the 49ers are 2-0, Kittle pointed to continuity. It is essentially the same offense they have run for a while, with the same starting offensive line, quarterback, fullback, running back and tight ends. The wide receiver room changed, but Deebo has been part of it before, and Kittle believes Mike Evans would work in any offense.

"I got to play with Trent Williams, right? Hall of Famer, plays like a Hall of Famer still. Mike Evans, Hall of Famer, plays like a Hall of Famer still," he said. "Brock Purdy's throwing the ball to Mike Evans and I'm blocking for him. What a dream come true."

That led to Kyle Shanahan, who has been Kittle's only NFL head coach in 10 years. Kittle described him as "brutally honest with you every single day," but also great at hyping players up for the small things, like footwork on a block or selling a motion with your eyes. "He'll build you up and he doesn't ever like take you out at the knees, but he holds you accountable every single day, which is what you want," Kittle said. "The second that you feel like your head coach is a bullshitter, I think you lose leverage with the team pretty quick."

Rich brought up Shanahan's blunt "no" when asked if Aiyuk was an option. Kittle wouldn't drive in that lane, but he did say Shanahan is "so obsessed with football" that "it makes you want to play football for him." Earlier, Rich had asked about Kittle's college coach at Iowa, Kirk Ferentz. Asked if Ferentz ever got angry at him, Kittle said he got roasted multiple times, and he is a big believer that hard coaching is healthy.

Then came the stats. Going into the Dolphins game, only four players in 49ers history had caught a touchdown pass in 10 straight years. Coming out of it, there were six, because Kittle and Kyle Juszczyk both did it in the same game. Kittle didn't know, but he did know that he and Juice have a great record when they both score. The only loss, he said, came during his rookie year, when the team started 0-9. "So, does it really even count?" He also praised Juszczyk's sail route and touchdown. "He's riding high for all the fullbacks out there."

Rich added that Christian McCaffrey got his 100th career scrimmage touchdown in game 114, one game faster than Jerry Rice, with 50 for Carolina and 50 for the Niners. Kittle added that McCaffrey had the exact same number of rushing touchdowns for each team, and the same split of receiving touchdowns too. The only other two players to do 50 and 50 like that are Marshall Faulk and Randy Moss.

Asked for a McCaffrey story, Kittle delivered. Right after OTAs, McCaffrey invited Kittle and Juszczyk to Cabo with some high school buddies for his birthday, just to golf and drink beers. Kittle, Juice and two others went out for a 7 a.m. nine holes, came back ready for 18 more, and found McCaffrey on a massage table getting work done by a rehab guy he had flown down.

"Christian, it's June 2nd. You're going to be okay. Get off the table. Let's go drink some beers," Kittle recalled. He did get off the table, and had an excellent round. The rule that day was that every beer was a free mulligan. On hole 18, Juice took four of them. "That was tough for Juice."

For Niners fans already dreaming big at 2-0, Kittle's message was simple. "Buckle down the hatches. Lock in. It's a long season. One week at a time." The only thing on his mind is Arizona, which went into Los Angeles and upset the Chargers. When Rich tried to bait him with a big-picture vision of winning in the Rams' building, Kittle refused. "Don't be a siren to me, man. I watched Odyssey."

Of course that required a story. Kittle saw it in IMAX in Oakland three days before training camp, but the only seats he and his brother-in-law could get were in the second row. He spent the movie leaning as far back as he could, staring straight up. He still loved it, especially the sound, which he compared to the crowd noise making everything shake in NCAA Football.

Then came what Rich called the real serious question: Iowa versus Michigan on Saturday. Kittle's recent wager with Brock Purdy over Iowa and Iowa State ended in Iowa's favor, though Kittle admitted it was stressful, winning by three as 20 point favorites. Purdy paid up in t-shirts and hats, and Kittle said next year he'll hand Purdy a prepared script. The bonus hat for this game came from a high school friend named Max, who found it at a thrift shop and mailed it to him two weeks ago.

The terms: if Iowa wins, Rich wears an Iowa t-shirt and hat for an entire segment on Thursday's show. If Michigan wins, Kittle wears Michigan gear during his Thursday press availability, which he said runs 8 to 12 minutes. Kittle also promised to send his old college helmet. "It'll fit your head. I promise," he said. Rich shook on it virtually, with everybody watching on Disney Plus as witnesses. Kittle even asked Rich to deliver a spiel on why Iowa has the best tight ends of all time, which Rich said you could argue regardless.

Kittle closed by asking Rich to golf together at next year's American Century Championship, noting they are both bottom quarter of the field. Rich said he'd love it, and that the tournament may not go for Kittle's mulligan rule. "I think Travis might win that one," Kittle said.

That opened one last topic. Rich asked how good Travis Kelce has looked the first two weeks, and Kittle said he still gets confused about how little teams cover him. "Teams are dropping into these deep zones and he's just running like these little five-yard hook routes. He turns, Pat hits him, he drop steps, gets 10 yards downfield," he said. His pitch for fixing that: on National Tight Ends Day, "all defenses should not cover tight ends."

Rich said they would run that one up the flagpole, along with everything else. One of them is sending the other something to wear next Thursday.