George Kittle has gone through a miracle this offseason. A miracle that started with an injury that mostly went undetected by fans during the Super Bowl earlier this year. As the 49ers TE is working his way back up from core muscle surgery, he revealed the surprising side effects of yet another injury.
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Kittle got banged up a lot last season, from a fractured rib to a muscle tear in his big toe. But the injury that went under the radar was his shoulder injury. Talking to ‘Bussin’ with the Boys,’ Kittle revealed that he injured his shoulder during the Super Bowl. And while all injuries are bummers, this injury had a surprising side effect.
The TE has been dealing with a lingering shoulder injury since his high school days, with him revealing that that injury has always prevented him from throwing. But that works out, since as a tight end, Kittle doesn’t have to do any throwing anyway. However, his latest shoulder injury apparently healed the first one, and now he has no trouble throwing! He revealed,
“My shoulder’s been messed up since high school, and luckily, I play tight end, so I don’t ever throw a football or anything like that…But I hurt my shoulder in the Super Bowl. AC sprain, chipped a bone. And now that it’s mostly healed, I can now throw a football again. It’s like a kid that gets hit in the head, and you wake up with a superpower. I can throw a football. It’s unreal.”
Perhaps Purdy can now look forward to some throwing sessions with his Tight End, now that he can miraculously “zip it” across the field.
Kittle had entered the locker room during the 49ers’ OT drive against the Chiefs during the Super Bowl. The reason behind this wasn’t made immediately clear but was later revealed to be due to a shoulder injury. However, he soon returned to the field but couldn’t make much of a difference.
The loss was a big blow to the Brock Purdy-led 49ers, getting so close to the Lombardy but losing it all in the final moments. It was especially difficult for Kittle, from whom it was the second time in five years of being in touching distance of a Lombardy.
George Kittle Ready to “Push Rock Up the Mountain”
Yes, losing the Super Bowl by an inch for the second time in five years was devastating for Kittle, but he’s shaken it off and is ready for the third drive. He says,
“I had my time of being super sad and stuff like that. But let’s start working out again. Hit it again. Hey, it’s fun. I’m on a good team still. We have another opportunity.”
Kittle has been taking it easy in the offseason, even being excused from practices to heal from his core surgery, and has also seen loss of muscle loss due to a lack of strength training. However, he is all ready to hit the weight room now, with him being “almost back to 100%.” After losing almost 30 pounds while in recovery, he now only has to catch up with the last 10 lbs.
