George Kittle shares how he hilariously welcomed Brock Purdy into the NFL
George Kittle gave Brock Purdy a true Hawkeye welcome into the NFL.
As starring figures on opposite sides of the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series spectrum, Kittle made sure to remind Purdy of just that fact when the former Cyclone joined the San Francisco 49ers last season.
Speaking with Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Kittle shared what he knew of Purdy as he arrived in San Francisco ahead of 2022 for his rookie NFL season.
“Ish. Well, Iowa State kid, so I had to like mildly bully him just a little bit,” Kittle said.
And how exactly did you do that?
“I hung an Iowa jersey in his locker. That’s about all I did,” Kittle explained.
"Iowa State kid so I had to like, mildly bully him just a little bit… I hung an Iowa jersey in his locker." 😂
George Kittle on his relationship with Brock Purdy.
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Of course, any jokes between the two are all ancient history now. Pressed into action as a rookie after Jimmy Garoppolo was lost to a season-ending foot injury, Purdy performed admirably and developed quite the rapport with Kittle.
The 6-foot-1, 220 pound signal-caller went from Mr. Irrelevant to the brink of a Super Bowl trip. With Purdy as a starter, San Francisco went 7-0 and advanced all the way to the NFC Championship before the Philadelphia Eagles had other ideas.
Philadelphia linebacker Haason Reddick applied a hit that tore the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in Purdy’s elbow. That forced Purdy out of the contest and abruptly ended San Francisco’s Super Bowl chances.
Purdy finished last season with 1,374 passing yards and 13 touchdowns against just four interceptions across nine games.
With Purdy back healthy alongside Kittle who is still smack dab in the midst of his prime, San Francisco can once again dream of capturing that elusive sixth Lombardi Trophy.
Kittle ended last season with 60 grabs for 765 yards and a career-high 11 touchdown receptions.
“Brock was a guy instantly that could kinda talk smack back to you if you gave him, chirped each other a little bit. He was there every single morning. His locker was kind of close to mine, too, so you’re engaging with him all the time. So, had a relationship with Brock from the start, and it just kind of grew throughout that. Seeing him kind of tear apart our defense all of last year on the scout team, which was really fun.
“And then when he stepped in as a rookie middle of the Miami Dolphins game facing Cover 0, hey, he didn’t even blink. Just stood in the pocket, delivered footballs and just had a great time out there. So, I knew…when you’re playing along with a guy who has that much fun and that much energy, it gets the whole team going, too. So, our relationship is we’re having fun, we’re scoring a lot of touchdowns with him. It’s been a good time,” Kittle said.
San Francisco opens its 2023 NFL season at Pittsburgh on Sept. 10 at noon on FOX.
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