George Kittle

BIOGRAPHY

George Kittle was born on October 9, 1993, in Madison, Wisconsin. He is a Tight End in the NFL.

Kittle played at Iowa from 2012 to 2016 under head coach Kirk Ferentz. As a freshman, Kittle had a limited role behind senior C. J. Fiedorowicz, junior Ray Hamilton, and sophomore Jake Duzey. He had his first collegiate reception, which went for 47 yards, against the Missouri State Bears. Overall, he caught five passes for 108 yards. Iowa's tight end unit remained crowded for Kittle in the 2014 season. Along with the return of Hamilton and Duzey, junior Henry Krieger-Coble added to the depth. Kittle had a lone reception for 25 yards against Maryland as his only catch of the season. Kittle's role expanded in the 2015 season. On September 26, 2015, against North Texas, he scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 43-yard reception from quarterback C. J. Beathard. Overall, Kittle had 20 receptions for 290 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns in the 2015 season. His six receiving touchdowns ranked sixth in the Big Ten Conference. As a senior in the 2016 season, Kittle headlined a tight end unit that contained junior Peter Pekar and freshman Noah Fant. He had his best statistical game against North Dakota State with five receptions for 110 receiving yards. In his senior season, he had 22 receptions for 314 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns. During his collegiate career, Kittle had 48 receptions for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns.

As a top tight end prospect, Kittle was one of 19 collegiate tight ends to receive an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He completed the majority of drills, but opted to skip the short shuttle and three-cone drill. Kittle's overall performance was well perceived, as he finished third among tight ends in the broad jump, fifth in the 40-yard dash, and finished sixth among his position group in the vertical jump. On March 27, 2017, Kittle participated at Iowa's Pro Day, along with C. J. Beathard, Desmond King, Jaleel Johnson, Greg Mabin, Riley McCarron, and four other prospects. He completed his combine drills, finishing the short shuttle (4.55s), three-cone drill, and also ran positional drills. Scouts and team representatives from all 32 NFL teams attended, including Cincinnati Bengals' tight end coach Jonathan Hayes. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Kittle was projected to be a third or fourth-round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the fifth-best tight end prospect in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock, sixth-best by NFL analyst Gil Brandt, and was ranked the eighth-best tight end by NFLDraftScout.com.

On May 4, 2017, the San Francisco 49ers signed Kittle to a four-year, $2.69 million contract that included a signing bonus of $298,287. On August 13, Kittle signed a five-year, $75 million contract with the 49ers with an $18 million signing bonus, making him the highest-paid tight end in the league. Kittle finished his rookie season with 43 receptions for 515 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games.

In the 2018 season, During Week 14 against the Denver Broncos, Kittle set a franchise record for reception yards by a tight end with 210, all coming in the first half, as well as becoming the first 49ers tight end to surpass 1,000 receiving yards. During the season finale against the Rams, Kittle broke Travis Kelce's single-season receiving yards record for a tight end, less than an hour after Kelce broke the record, on a 43-yard touchdown and finished the season with 1,377 yards. 

In 2019, he was named to his second Pro Bowl with over 340,000 votes. 

On November 5, 2020, Kittle was placed on injured reserve with a broken bone in his foot.

On October 9, 2021, Kittle was placed on injured reserve with a calf injury. He was activated on November 6. On November 8, in his return game, Kittle caught six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals. In Week 13, he had nine receptions for 181 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-23 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. In Week 14, he had 13 receptions for 151 yards and one touchdown in a 26-23 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week. Overall, Kittle finished the 2021 season with 71 receptions for 910 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 14 games.

Kittle had 7 catches for 108 yards during the 2021 postseason, receiving his first career postseason touchdown in the 49ers' 20-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the 2021 NFC Championship game.

Kittle has been an avid fan of the Chicago Bears since his childhood.