Going from high school to college football is a big jump. Going from college football to the NFL is an even bigger one. There are literally hundreds of FBS college football programs and only 32 NFL teams. That means there’s always going to be a period of acclimation.
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And the important thing is that rookies come in recognizing that they are, in fact, rookies. They don’t know how it’s going to work or what they need to do to succeed necessarily. That means they have to learn from their veteran teammates and coaches and absorb information as often as possible. However, this new generation of rookies doesn’t always want to do that, according to San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle.
Kittle turned himself from a fifth-round pick to a First-Team All-Pro in the NFL. So guys might want to listen to what he has to say. His main point is that young players should be open and proactive about building relationships with, and learning from, their more experienced teammates.
“Be a sponge. Absorb all the information around you as best you can. Watch the guys who are superstars… see what they do every day,” said the Niners star on his podcast, Kittle Things.
“But also find the guys who are Year 8-9-10, who have never made a Pro Bowl, who have just made a career out of just surviving, and find the things that they do well, and do that same shit. And also look at the guys who do stuff terrible, and don’t do that stuff.”
He went on to talk about how he felt like an old man “yelling at the clouds” when he scolded the younger generation of players for always having headphones on or being on their phones.
He even reminded them: the NFL also stands for Not For Long; the average career is just 2.5 years. They must soak up all the knowledge they can by actually chatting with the guy in the locker right next to them. And it might just be Trent Williams.
“I’ve seen rookies who have lockers next to Trent Williams. And Trent Williams, who’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer, he’s 36-37, still playing at an incredibly high level… And Trent Williams loves to talk football… And guys just don’t ask him questions. So that’s always frustrating.”
Williams is an 11-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro. And while he may seem intimidating, Kittle says it’s worth overcoming the fear of the 6’5″, 320-pound mountain of a man. Doing so allows young players to learn the small things that made him so successful over an NFL career that has now spanned 15 years, starting with his rookie campaign in 2010.
