George Kittle dealt with plenty of emotional recovery after the 49ers’ heart-wrenching Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in February.
But more than that, the notoriously physical Kittle had to rehab several injuries this offseason — a fractured rib, issues with his shoulder and toe, and a core muscle tear that required surgery.
On Tuesday’s “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, San Francisco’s star tight end revealed he lost almost 30 pounds following the Super Bowl, a significant blow to his typical 250-pound build.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“I couldn’t lift,” Kittle explained. “I couldn’t do any upper body because of my shoulder and my rib, and I couldn’t do lower [body] because of my core surgery. … I didn't lift from the Super Bowl until like almost mid-March.
“I went a month without doing anything, I wasn’t supposed to do anything.”
Of course, if you know anything about George Kittle, you aware it’s basically torture to keep him out of the gym.
San Francisco 49ers
“My anxiety levels were pretty high,” Kittle said with a laugh.
Luckily, Kittle wasn’t going through it alone. Cornerback Charvarius Ward had core surgery just a week before him, and several other star NFL players have gone through similar procedures as well, including the Kelce brothers and Packers tight end Robert Tonyan.
“I knew a bunch of guys that had gone through it,” Kittle said. “I called some people and they were like, ‘Hey, you’re gonna feel great, just like the first month or so is going to suck, and after that, you’re going to come back.”
So, Kittle’s confidence heading into the upcoming 2024 season hasn’t taken a hit, especially knowing that former NFL defensive end JJ Watt had one of the best years of his career after his core surgery.
“It was tough, but I’m feeling great now, which is fantastic,” Kittle added about the recovery process. “I’d say I’m almost back to 100 percent.”
Kittle says he’s still a little skinny, mentioning that he wants to gain back around 10 pounds in order to get back fully into playing shape.
As he enters his eighth NFL season, the 30-year-old will look to remain one of the premier players at his position and a key cog of the 49ers roster as they look to return to the Super Bowl.
After all, if Kittle put up over 1,000 receiving yards while playing half the season with a major injury, imagine what he can do when fully healthy.