San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle made a name for himself outrunning defenders this past season on his way to setting an NFL single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end. Kittle's performance in 2018 earned him his first trip to the Pro Bowl in addition to being named a second-team All-Pro.
Breaking a long run for a touchdown, however, isn't what Kittle takes the most pride in. He is in Atlanta, Georgia for all of the festivities leading to the Super Bowl and joined "Super Bowl Today" on Thursday. Kittle shared why another aspect of his game gives him more joy than catching footballs.
"When I first got to Iowa, I was 6-foot-2, and like 200 pounds, so I was definitely not a stereotypical tight end," Kittle said. "The first thing my strength coach said to me was if you want to play tight end at Iowa, you have to learn how to run-block. So that's something I took a lot of pride in, and I still do to this day.
"I personally think if you can move a guy from point A to point B against his will, that's a better feeling than scoring a touchdown, in my opinion. If you can put a guy on his back and he doesn't want to be on his back, it's a great feeling. There is not much that can beat that."
Kittle finished the 2018 season, his second in the NFL, with 88 receptions for 1,377 yards with five touchdowns. Even more impressive was what he was able to do after hauling in passes. No other tight end came close to matching his 873 yards after the catch. The next closest tight end was Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs with 574. In fact, Kittle led all players in yards after the catch, edging out Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, who had 860.
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