San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle recently defended his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, against the criticisms of ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith.
"You saw what happened. We went 4-12 without him (in 2018), and we go 13-3 with him (in 2019)," Kittle said during the interview on First Take. "He's a pretty damn good quarterback, in my opinion."
Kittle joined the ESPN show, Golic and Wingo, this week, and continued to praise Garoppolo, who has faced criticism all offseason following the 49ers' fourth-quarter collapse in Super Bowl LIV. Much of the blame for that loss has fallen squarely on Garoppolo's shoulders, for some reason.
"It is what it is," Kittle said Friday. "When there's not a lot to talk about because there's nothing going on, people like to hate, and they like to bring up things.
"I think Jimmy's done nothing but work his ass off, and work really hard. He's been ballin' out. We don't make it to the Super Bowl without him. I think his record is 25-3 (21-5 regular season, 23-6 including playoffs), or something like that. That's not a bad record.
"If the NFL is always — they judge you on wins and losses, so I think Jimmy is going a pretty good job of about that. And overall, he's just a fantastic person, a great leader for this football team.
"The criticism that he gets, it is criticism. He's the franchise quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, so he's always in the spotlight, and I think he handles it incredibly well. I'm just excited that he's my quarterback, and I get to keep catching passes from him."
As for watching the Kansas City Chiefs celebrate a Super Bowl championship around them, the heartbreaking defeat is not something Kittle or the 49ers will soon forget. Many on the team have said the loss provides added motivation this offseason, as they work toward a return trip.
Kittle won't let the defeat consume him, though. He also remembers all the good from this past season, which helps alleviate the pain from the bad.
"It's not something I'll ever get over," Kittle said. "Losing the Super Bowl is definitely one of the worst experiences of my life. It's just a missed opportunity, knowing that you're not going to get back unless your whole team comes together and just puts together a great season again, like we had last year. Know that we've just got to finish.
"But it's not something I'm going to let haunt me. My experience in the Super Bowl was awesome. That whole season was a blast.
"I'm just honestly looking forward to being able to play more football. I get paid to play football, so I'm not going to be upset and completely hurt the rest of my life because of it. But I'm definitely looking forward to another shot to go out there and play again."