Former San Francisco 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman stopped by the team's Santa Clara facility on Tuesday to observe practice with his family. During his time there, he officially announced his retirement from the NFL.

The visit allowed Bowman to see some of his old teammates. The linebacker's last season in San Francisco came during head coach Kyle Shanahan's and general manager John Lynch's first season with the team.


George Kittle briefly had an opportunity to go against Bowman during practices. The 49ers' Pro Bowl tight end was a rookie at the time. He remembers what it was like going against the four-time All-Pro linebacker.

"It was terrifying," Kittle said. "He's a monster. Are you kidding me? I was a rookie coming from Iowa. I didn't really run a lot of routes so going against a guy like that was also — I'm pretty sure my entire OTAs he would do curls on the entire rack before practice so he'd look even bigger before practice. Terrifying.

"Him and Joe (Staley) have done a really good job of setting the standard of how you practice. NaVorro was always a great job of high intensity every play, didn't take plays off, ran to the ball, great vocal leader, everything you want in a guy."

Bowman wanted to announce his retirement with his former team. He wasn't able to sign a one-day contract and do so officially, but he was able to at least symbolically retire with the team that made him a third-round draft pick in 2010.

"I feel like the 49ers is my home, and it's the place that loved me from the start," Bowman told reporters. "So I wanted to come back and retire as a Niner, and they welcomed me, so I'm glad it happened."


You can watch the entire Kittle press conference below, courtesy of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat's Grant Cohn.



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