We already knew that San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle just missed being part of the exclusive "99 Club" in Madden NFL 21 by EA Sports, the latest installment of the popular multi-platform football video game. With his overall rating of 98, it was safe to assume that he would be the highest-rated tight end in the game.
Now we know by how much.
Kittle, widely believed to be the best tight end in football, just edged Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce for the top spot in football gaming. While the former has a rating of 98, the latter came in just one point lower at a very respectable 97.
The next-highest-rated tight end is Rob Gronkowski of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Kittle and Kelce go 1-2 in the #Madden21 TE overall ratings 👀@EAMaddenNFL pic.twitter.com/GoUvxGCswC
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 17, 2020
Kittle's and Kelce's teams faced off in Super Bowl LIV, with the Chiefs emerging as champions. While Kittle's agent works to get his client a contract extension, the Niners tight end works relentlessly to prepare for the upcoming season and a campaign to return to the Super Bowl.
Kittle is entering his fourth NFL season. San Francisco made him a fifth-round selection out of Iowa in 2017. The tight end caught 85 passes for 1,053 yards with five touchdown receptions in 2019, earning first-team All-Pro honors and his second Pro Bowl selection. It was Kittle's second consecutive season of over 1,000 yards receiving.
In 2018, Kittle set a new NFL record for the most single-season receiving yards by a tight end with 1,377.
Madden NFL 21 is being released on August 25 on Windows, PlayStation 4, and XBOX One.
