San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is no longer the record holder for the most single-season receiving yards by a tight end. Kittle caught 88 passes for 1,377 yards in 2018, and on Sunday, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce surpassed that mark.
Kittle congratulated Kelce on Twitter.
Raising the bar all year!!! Congrats @tkelce 🙌🏻🔥 https://t.co/Aoke4JBKg2
— George Kittle (@gkittle46) December 27, 2020
Kelce entered the weekend needing just 60 yards to break the record and averaged 94.1 yards per game before Sunday. He now owns the No. 1 and No. 3 spots on the list for all-time single-season receiving yards by a tight end. Kelce racked up 1,336 yards from 88 catches in 2018, briefly owning the top spot that year before Kittle reset the bar minutes later.
Kelce currently has 1,416 receiving yards on 105 receptions and counting through 15 games this season.
"It's truly a special season by a tight end and not just by a tight end, but just a player, a game-changer," Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes recently said.
Kittle, like many of his 49ers teammates, has been injured for much of 2020. He returned to the field on Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals after missing six games with a broken bone in his foot. Kittle hauled in four passes for 92 yards in the game at State Farm Stadium.
San Francisco made Kittle a fifth-round draft pick out of Iowa in 2017. He has recorded 41 receptions for 566 yards with two touchdowns through seven games this season.