Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Tight end Greg Olsen is a member of the division-rival Seattle Seahawks after nine seasons with the Carolina Panthers. That means he'll have at least two opportunities this season to watch from the sidelines as
George Kittle does George Kittle-type things.
The two teams' first meeting of the season will be on Sunday, November 1, at CenturyLink Field.
This offseason, Olsen had a chance to have a
lengthy conversation with Kittle for the Seahawk tight end's podcast, TE1, on the Blue Wire Podcast network. The episode premiered on Wednesday. Olsen remembers the first time he had an opportunity to watch Kittle first-hand. It was the Niner tight end's first NFL start, and it happened to be against Olsen's Panthers.
Carolina ended up
winning the game — also Kyle Shanahan's first as a head coach — 23-3. Kittle remembers the matchup vividly.
"I come out on the field, it's my first start; they're like, 'Hey, you're just going to start,'" Kittle shared. "I pulled my hammy in camp, right? This was crazy — I pulled my hammy in camp, I missed two weeks, I played one preseason game (
against the Denver Broncos), scored a touchdown, and the next day, they traded Vance McDonald.
"So they're like, 'Hey look, this is your job to lose.' And I was like, 'OK, cool.' And the next day at practice, I tweaked my hammy again."
Kittle sat out the remainder of the preseason and then started during the team's regular-season opener as a rookie.
"The first person I see is Cam Newton warming up right in front of me," Kittle continued. "For some reason, it looked like he was seven feet tall. Just massive. I was like, 'OK, that's cool.'
"First play of the game, I'm pretty sure we run a play-action. I'm blocking Julius Peppers, who I was playing with in Madden 2007. And I was like, 'Dude, this is so cool.' I was like, 'Oh my God!'"
Kittle finished the game with five receptions for 27 yards on six targets.
Olsen and Kittle discuss several other topics during the nearly hour-long conversation, including his football background, what he's learned from other NFL tight ends, pre-game rituals, and more.
Kittle also discusses his trip to Las Vegas with cornerback
Richard Sherman after the loss in Super Bowl LIV.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Kittle below.
Deebo Samuel welcomed rookie Brandon Aiyuk into the team's "YAC Bros" club. The San Francisco 49ers receivers take pride in their ability to rack up yards after the catch. It's a skill that head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch seek in their offensive weapons.
Maybe the "YAC Bros" is a bit more exclusive of a club than you might think. Apparently, All-Pro tight end George Kittle hasn't received his invite yet despite leading the team this season in total yards after the catch. Two seasons ago, he led the league in that category.
"Am I a part of the YAC Bros? I didn't get a formal invitation or a t-shirt of anything," Kittle jokingly told reporters
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle joined The Rich Eisen Show on Monday. Here are three 49ers-related topics he discussed during the phone interview as his team prepares to face the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Kittle on the Deion Sanders-style into-the-end-zone celebration (pictured above) against the Los Angeles Rams
"We were in the throwbacks. Got to pay a little respect. … Just had a little bit of fun, man. It's something about those all-white throwbacks. They get you all excited."
Kittle on the offense starting to gel
"I think there's still a lot of mistakes for us to correct, but our overall confidence as an offensive unit, like playing together, 11 guys working towards
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle joined KNBR on Tuesday morning, the morning after attending the wedding of his close friend and teammate, wide receiver Trent Taylor. The NFL star was actually in his car, returning to the Santa Clara area during the interview, resulting in some audio drops and a missed exit on the freeway.
The topic of the 49ers quarterback situation came up. Kittle had both Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard throwing him the football on Sunday night. By the way, Kittle had a phenomenal night, hauling in 15 passes on 15 targets for 183 yards and a score.
It wasn't as good a night for Mullens, who has been stepping in for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo. Mullens earned the lowest Pro Football Focus grade for a starting quarterback this season
