49ers' George Kittle opens up on losing multiple Super Bowls to Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs - "They both s*ck"
The San Francisco 49ers and tight end George Kittle have been to two Super Bowls in the last five years. They have lost both to the same opponent - Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. But Kittle is seeing the bright side of things.
Kittle was the guest on the "Bussin' with the Boys" podcast hosted by Will Compton and Taylor Lewan. The 49ers TE was asked what it felt like to come up short in multiple Super Bowls. [From 55:11]
"It does suck. Losing Super Bowls is not fun. They both suck in their own way. But no, I wouldn't say one hurts more than the other. I think just recency. It's not very fun but another way to look at it is like, well, I woke up the next day and I get to play football again. Like it is what it is like climbing back up the mountain and push the rock back up the mountain."
He added:
"What else am I going to do? Yeah, I had my time of being super sad and stuff like that. But it's just like, alright, well, let's start working out again... Let's just continue to play well, stay as healthy as we can and get back to the playoffs."
The 49ers lost the Super Bowl LIV 31-20 to the Chiefs. They led 20-10 at the end of the third quarter. But Patrick Mahomes led them to a sensational comeback win.
The 49ers had a chance for redemption in the Super Bowl LVIII, against the same opponents. But head coach Kyle Shanahan's overtime decision proved to be costly for the 49ers. They lost 25-20 to the Kansas City Chiefs, yet again.
George Kittle gets candid on Super Bowl overtime rules drama
While Kyle Shanan's decision to take the ball first in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII will be talked about for years to come, there were reports of the San Francisco 49ers players not knowing the overtime rules, which took many by surprise.
George Kittle has an issue with that. The 49ers TE explained in the same podcast that, the rules were already explained to them at a certain point. But he also mentioned that the team was clear about what they wanted to do. [From 2:09:38]
"I'm pretty sure it [rules] was explained to us at one point... I never really understood why it mattered that the player didn't know. And also I knew that we were going to do what we did because our defense just got like ran up the field over the course like six minutes. I think they're exhausted. So I was like, 'there's no way we're going to put them back on the field.'"
He added:
"I feel like we all knew what we were going to do but I was just like, I'm just gonna do whatever the coach asked me to do... whether we go offense or defense first, it's like I'm just gonna go out there and do my job."
Kittle further defended his 49ers coaching crew and said that their staff does a really good job of explaining rules to the players.
George Kittle and the 49ers will enter the 2024 NFL season with high hopes for another Super Bowl appearance and be the team to dethrone Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.