As The San Francisco 49ers Settle In Arizona, George Kittle Reflects On His Rollercoaster Year

In this cruel, twisted, bizarre year of 2020, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and his wife Claire sit in a well-appointed kitchen inside a Phoenix area Airbnb because the Niners weren’t allowed to play or practice in Santa Clara County for three weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kittle still made the move from the Bay Area to Arizona despite missing the last four games while on injured reserve with a fractured bone in his right foot, in the hopes of rehabbing and returning to the field this season for the 5-7 Niners, which fell on Monday to the Buffalo Bills in a game that was supposed to be played at Levi’s Stadium.

“If you would’ve asked me at the start of the season if I thought I was going to be playing a home game in Arizona at their home field, I would’ve laughed at you,” Kittle said.

Coming off a 2019 season where he had 85 catches for over 1,000 yards and was named First Team All-Pro, and made his second Pro Bowl team before helping lead San Francisco to the Super Bowl, the 27-year-old Kittle saw his following massively grow to over 850,000 on Instagram and nearly 200,000 on Twitter.

The 27-year-old met Claire at the University of Iowa, where he was playing football and she was playing basketball. Claire became a fitness trainer, model and trend setter in her own right and started working with eyewear company Zenni last season. George was picked in the 5th round of the 2017 draft by the Niners and has been an integral part of their offense ever since.

Before the Super Bowl in February against the Kansas City Chiefs, Zenni flew a plane with Kittle’s face on a banner across the stadium.

“That was awesome. When do you ever think that you’re gonna be on a banner being pulled by an airplane?” Claire asked. “So that was fun for me to see. Before we went into the stadium, he was just flying across the sky.”

That led to an expanded partnership with Zenni that now includes a line of custom glasses and frames with the company called The Kittles, which debuted earlier this month.

“I always like to have her voice heard, especially with things I’m doing because we kind of attack everything together like we’re a team,” Kittle said. “And I think we’ve done a good job of that and we always have each other’s best interests in mind before anything else.” 

Kittle’s success on the field for the 49ers led to a slew of endorsements off it, including with Bud Light, Panda Express
EXPR
and Nike
NKE
.

“I’ll tell you this. I love eating Panda Express and I love drinking Bud Light,” said the Madison, Wisconsin native. “The fact that I get to be sponsored by them and work with them has been so much fun.”

Less fun for Kittle? Losing in the Super Bowl in February to Kansas City followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. If there’s one thing he learned from that game, it’s how difficult it is for teams to get back to the Big Game. You can’t just be lucky for a 16-game regular season and the playoffs.

“Week in and week out, the ups and downs of a season, how long a season is and what it takes to get to get there,” Kittle said. “I think you definitely realize, especially this year, that a little bit of resilience goes a long way as well.”

It’s that resilience amid this pandemic that’s brought the Kittles down to Arizona for the three weeks despite George being on IR. He repeatedly credited the 49ers organization for not only pulling off a midseason move to another state but how it’s handled the pandemic and all its rules and protocols.

Kittle and his teammates have to get his nose swabbed often for testing and he’s had to wear a tracker to tell who he’s been in contact with on a daily basis. To get rehab work done in the training room in an effort to return this season, he’s had to wear a face shield over his mask. And on top of that, with most team meetings now held over Zoom for obvious safety reasons, it takes away the normal interaction NFL players are used to with their teammates and coaching staff.

“It’s difficult because football is a very physical sport and one of the best parts of it is the camaraderie, the friendships that you make,” Kittle said. “But like I said, I think we’ve done a great job of handling it as a team.”

George headed down to Arizona with the team on Dec. 2 and Claire drove over with a bunch of stuff the following safety. The two items he couldn’t live without? His sneakers and his Xbox.

“I need both those things,” he said.

Kittle’s go-to games right now are Call of Duty and Rocket League, which he’s been playing more during quarantine when you can’t go out. And playing in the Super Bowl at a skill position instantly makes you more recognizable to tens of millions around the world, especially while walking down the street.

“I will say, wearing a mask and sunglasses really helps though. It’s definitely been nice in that regard,” he said tongue in cheek. “More people know who I am, which is what it is. But during the pandemic, it’s not like I’m outside very often.”

But while he’s mainly stuck inside because the pandemic is limiting him from team meetings in Arizona and his injury is keeping him off the field across the country, Kittle maintains his brave, optimistic outlook as he promotes his Zenni line and works to get back out there to help what he hopes will be a late 49ers playoff push while the team avoids COVID-19 as best as it can.

“The good thing, I will say, is I feel safe going into my facility every single day,” Kittle said. “I’m excited to be on a team that takes it seriously.”