The San Francisco 49ers have been chomping at the bit to get back onto the field together. Before training camp, they hadn't done so in six months. And that last time didn't end very well for the team. They had to watch another squad hoist the Lombardi Trophy and celebrate as they left the Hard Rock Stadium field dejected.
"I will be back here. I will be back here, and I will be back with a motherf---ing vengeance," tight end George Kittle said in the closing seconds of the Super Bowl.
Speak it into existence king.
"I WILL be back here. I will be back here, and I will be back with a motherf***ing vengeance" pic.twitter.com/vKFF4JXchE
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) February 5, 2020
The quest to make that happen will begin in a few weeks when the 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium on September 13. Actually, in the minds of Kittle and his teammates, that quest has already begun. It started when they reported to training camp.
Kittle has noticed things are different this year. No, I'm not talking about the daily COVID-19 screenings or the extra precautions in place because of the current pandemic. Kittle has noticed a change in the attitude of the team.
"Going into last year, what were we? 4-12 or something like that? No one really saw us coming or anything like that, except for us," Kittle said Thursday during a KNBR interview. "I think the biggest thing is, losing the Super Bowl, yes, it sucks, but we still have that hunger because we were there. We were so close. I think the team is definitely really hungry."
Despite not physically being together in an official capacity for half a year, Kittle and his teammates stayed in shape. The tight end still worked out five days a week and reported to camp looking bigger than ever. Everyone did their part to make use of their time between Zoom meetings with coaches.
"I think just seeing the guys these last couple of weeks in training camp, everyone's kind of come back, and you're like, 'Wow, you look like you've added some strength. You've slimmed down.'" Kittle continued. "Everyone looks like they're ready to play football, and it's really exciting to see.
"These first couple of training camp practices, the level of play on the field is so much higher than it was last year at the start of training camp, on both sides of the ball, which is really fun to see.
"I know we've added some players, but we've also lost some good players, and we're still playing at a very high level. This early in camp, that's really awesome to see."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Kittle below.