KITTLE-MANIAII!!! GET SET FOR...

49ers’ tight end and WWE superfan George Kittle exploded on the NFL scene one year ago in a fashion few could expect from a 5th-round pick. So what does the emerging superstar do for an encore?

INTERVIEW BY DIETER KURTENBACH ILLUSTRATION BY BENJAMIN WACHENJE

In a season set up by big expectations but marred by injury, there was at least one bright spot for the 2018 49ers: tight end George Kittle. The fifth-round draft pick out of Iowa in 2017 broke out in his sophomore year, despite pairing with the Niners’ understudy quarterbacks for 13 games. Kittle’s 1,377 receiving yards set a NFL record for tight ends, and with Jimmy Garoppolo now back under center, it begs the question: What’s next for the 49ers’ No. 1 target?

And, while we’re at it, how on Earth did we get to the point where a scrawny kid from Iowa is now one of the NFL’s best players and most engaging personalities?

Kittle sat down with sports columnist Dieter Kurtenbach to talk it all out:

You just had one of the best years in NFL history for a tight end and you are a fifth-round draft pick (No. 146 in 2017) … What happened between 18 years old and now?

The most helpful thing is that I grew two inches in college, gained 75 pounds, went through puberty at the age of 21.

Even compared to my rookie year, I’m the same weight, technically, but I lost about 8 percent body fat.

Being in coach Shanahan’s system and learning the playbook, that’s really the hardest thing. The NFL is more mental than it is physical — everyone out here is a good athlete. You don’t really have bad athletes out on the football field in the NFL. So it’s all mental. Guys who can excel and put themselves ahead in the mental aspect of the game — that’s knowing coverages, not having any busts, stuff like that — just makes the game a lot easier.

George Kittle, a fifth-round draft pick out of Iowa, is in elite company with an NFL record 1,377 receiving yards by a tight end.

A stat that kind of blew my mind — you had 48 receptions total in college.

Yeah…

At what point did you realize that you could, 1) play at Iowa, and 2) that you could get into the NFL and make an impact here?

I honestly never had a doubt that I’d make the NFL. That’s something that I told myself every day: What you’re doing is for the dream you’re trying to achieve. It really came to light my junior year — my redshirt junior year — I had a really good spring ball, there was an opening at tight end and I just kind of filled in, had a really good camp and just made plays when my name was called. That’s all you can really hope for — to get the opportunity to make the play.

Junior year, going into senior year — starting — it just kind of took off from there.

Do you think (Iowa coach Kirk) Ferentz throws to tight ends more now that you’ve had this nice start to an NFL career? Dude didn’t throw to you at all, and now they’re getting two tight ends taken high in the draft.

I was hurt my senior year, so that’s not on him. Blame CJ. That’s actually his fault.

Take me into a Kyle Shanahan offensive installation meeting.

Oh dear.

Do you have a board I can just draw squiggly lines on?

That’s what I’m picking up — it’s a master’s thesis every single time. How long are they usually?

Depends on the day, but if he has the whole team in there, breaking down a play — what the offense did well, what the defense did well, why it worked well against the offense — by the end of it, you have 100 circles, 100 arrows, you can’t see the entire offensive line because they’re all colored in with points, arrows, and stuff like that. You lose track about 10 minutes in, but he always comes back and clarifies a little bit. He brings you along, but he definitely (makes you think) ‘Oh, wow, you know a lot more about this than I do.’

Being a huge wrestling fan, Kittle is not afraid to mix it up a bit downfield after the catch.

What was the first meeting like?

Luckily my tight ends coach — Coach Embry — pulled me aside and said ‘You’re going to figure it out at some point, so don’t let that get to your head.’”

When did you realize that you were going to be open all the time?

One of my favorite things about this offense is that it is very similar to Iowa’s: outside zone, inside zone, play-action. I thrive in that. Play-action is what I do really well in, and I take a lot of pride in the run game, too. When you have an efficient run game with the play-action, you’re open a lot. So I knew that if we could keep the run game alive, at all, then the play-action is going to be wide open.

Going into some games, I know that feeling of ‘Hey, this team is a little bit easier to run on’ and know this might be a bigger game for me.

You’ve said you take a lot of pride in the running game — you’ve said it so often that I have to believe it’s true. But you like the ball in your hands, right?

I do like the ball in my hands. But if I can put a 300-pound dude on his back, that feels a lot better than catching a touchdown.

People won’t believe you when you say that.

I swear.

Maybe not catching a game-winning touchdown, those are different but … most of the time, if I can plant someone on their back, it’s pretty rewarding.

Speaking of planting guys on their back, you’re a wrestling fan. Apparently a pretty late-tolife wrestling fan.

Yeah, last five years.

One of my close friends at Iowa got me hooked on it, whether it was watching Monday Night Raw, Smackdown — first thing he ever got me to watch was Wrestlemania at Levi’s Stadium. What really got me hooked is Seth Rollins, he’s a current wrestler from Iowa, and my teammate that got me hooked went to the wrestling school — Rollins has this wrestling school — and I got to go over there and meet him a couple of times, talk to him about wrestling and his life outside of wrestling with his schedule and stuff.

It drew me in a little bit more. And then I got to get into the ring and do a Stone Cold Stunner on a guy, and the rush I felt after pulling that off in front of about 100 people in a little auditorium — I felt like I scored a touchdown. After that, I was like, “Now I get why it was so fun for so many people.”

I’ve gone to the last two Wrestlemanias, I spent about eight hours a day during the week of Wrestlemania week watching wrestling, and that’s my fix for the year.

What’s the best cheap beer to chug like Stone Cold (Steve Austin)?

Oh man…Busch Light.

It’s funny, I had to gain so much weight in college I had to drink Budweisers.

Bud Heavy?

Oh yeah.

It’s like a loaf of bread in a can.

It’s a protein shake in a can. You just set an NFL record for reception yards, you know Kyle is going to get you open, you got Jimmy back. How do you take it to the next level? What even is the next level?

Winning more games. Yeah, 1,377 yards is fun, but you win four games, it’s not as fun. It’s an accomplishment, but I’d much rather win and go to the playoffs.

To step it up: Win games and I gotta score a lot more touchdowns, because five isn’t enough to do anything.

How are you handling the stardom that you’re starting to develop here? I saw you after practice today with the fans, and you were loving every second of that.

You have to. They come to see us, and the least I can do is give them an hour of my time.

Honestly, I still get mistaken for CJ sometimes. I was on a plane back from Cabo on my honeymoon, and a guy sitting in front of me, after we landed, turned around and goes “Hey, I went to Iowa … hey CJ, great luck on the season, tell George I said the same thing.”

“‘I’ll tell George. Yeah, can’t wait, I’ll tell George.”

CJ is a legend in Iowa.

He led us to the Rose Bowl. 12-0, baby.

Fantasy football is a divisive issue among players. How do you feel about it?

I played fantasy football every year up until my rookie year. I like it. Some fans are a little too die hard.

You don’t say…

But I enjoy it. It’s fun. Players get to interact with fans, and the fans, it’s like having your own team, and it gives them another reason to watch.

Jimmy Garoppolo is back this year — everyone is excited. I do have to ask: Is he actually magic, or is he just really handsome?

Both.

Talk me through when he first came in — that game against the Jaguars and the magic run afterward.

Actually, the best thing that Jimmy did when he first got here — he took his first snap under center with the ones, and his cadence is very, very amazing. The tone of it — you can ask anybody. When he has his cadence and he’s rolling, everyone is just like, “Wow, OK, I can roll with this.” It started there, set the tone, and it wasn’t really hard.

Jimmy has the voice that when he talks, every head on the sideline turns and listens to him. He’s got the leadership thing down right. When he gets back on the field, it’s going to take care of itself.

Favorite team to play, for either positive or negative senses.

I could play in Lambeau (Field) on a Monday Night Football game every night. That was amazing. Playing Seattle is amazing. Just the rivalry — it’s just so much fun. Seattle…it’s such a good contest. I like it.

What’s your best NFL memory so far?

The Broncos game (seven catches, 210 yards) was pretty fun, but beating Seattle last year was pretty awesome.

We beat them for the first time since like … 2012, 2013 … on a Robbie Gould field goal, and after that I got to go to Tables, Ladders, and Chairs pay-per-view for WWE, so that was pretty fun.

That was a pretty good Sunday for me.

Yeah, it was pretty awesome. And we won the game by running power three times in a row down their throat.

You truly do love the run game. I love the run game.