San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle is reassuring fans that, despite some offseason drama, the team will be ready to compete when the season starts in the fall.
“It’s gonna be a great time,” Kittle, 32, exclusively told Us Weekly on the red carpet of the Tight Ends and Friends Concert presented by Reese’s and Sports Illustrated in Nashville on Tuesday, June 23.
George’s wife, Claire Kittle, who was standing beside him, agreed.
“Are you kidding me?” she asked.
“It’s gonna be so much fun,” George continued. “We get to play in Australia, we get to play in Mexico. It’s gonna be a great time.”
George’s comments come as the team is embroiled in controversy surrounding wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
Aiyuk, 28, hasn’t played since 2024 and has been at odds with the team’s management for over a year after the 49ers voided the rest of the guaranteed money on his four-year contract.
It escalated when Aiyuk stopped attending rehab sessions for his torn ACL, MCL and meniscus in his knee. The 49ers put him on the reserve/left team list in December after he stopped showing up at the team facility all together.
Since then, Aiyuk has taken to social media multiple times to call out the 49ers front office and openly campaign to join the Washington Commanders.
George appeared on the “Pardon My Take” podcast on Monday, June 22, where he offered some cryptic advice to teams pursuing Aiyuk.
“The last time I saw Aiyuk was, call it Week 6, 7, or 8. I don’t really know,” he said. “I used to make it a habit of mine to go out early in the morning before meetings to watch him train because he’d always be out there early, and I watched him run over 22 miles an hour and stop on a dime. So, he’s still got it, or at least that was a year, eight months ago, so I don’t really know. But you guys have fun with that, I guess…You have fun with all that comes with it.”
“I wouldn’t be happy either after a team paid me $130 million,” George sarcastically added.
George is coming off his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl appearance and, even as he approaches his mid-thirties, remains one of the premiere tight ends in the game. He, Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen founded Tight End University in 2021 in order to bring together and uplift the tight end community at all levels.
“Every year is so much fun with Greg and Travis, and the fact that us three just keep coming back together and doing it over and over and over again is super exciting,” George told Us. “It baffles me how we continually just up the ante every single year.”
