The 49ers and Chiefs both have highly productive tight ends playing big roles in their offenses and the two players put any feelings about winning Sunday’s Super Bowl on hold when it came time to talk about one another on Monday night.
49ers tight end George Kittle and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce formed a mutual admiration society when asked to talk about one another.
“George Kittle, man, I was just talking about his tenacity. How he runs routes, how he plays the game with a certain level of energy and enthusiasm. You gotta love it,” Kelce said in an interview with Deion Sanders. “There’s nothing that you dislike about that guy’s game. Just trying to take it to the next level every single time he plays.”
The 49ers were up second on Super Bowl LIV Opening Night and Kittle got a chance to return the favor during his own conversation with Sanders.
“Early in my college career, I watched so much of him,” Kittle said. “To get a compliment from him is pretty spectacular. When you got a player like that who, in my opinion, is the best red zone threat in the NFL. Scores touchdowns left and right all the time.”
Kittle said he also appreciated how Kelce showed you can have a big personality as long as you back it up with your play on the field. Both players have done that throughout this season and could factor heavily in deciding which of their teams wind up on top.