San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle has had a fruitful career thus far, racking up 264 receptions for 3,579 yards and 14 touchdowns in 53 games over the course of four seasons. He also recently revealed to Matt Verderame on his Stacking the Box podcast that the Seattle Seahawks planned to draft him in 2017, but the red and gold swooped in to snatch him in the fifth round before Seattle could do so. The 27-year-old tight end recalled the events leading up to the 49ers’ selection.
“It was probably a minute before the Niners called me, my agent said, ‘Hey, the Seahawks are calling. They said they’re trading up to get you,’” Kittle said. “And then, literally, I’m on the phone with him, my agent, and — he’s on my dad’s phone — and then I got a call from the Bay Area, and I was like, ‘I’m getting a call from the Bay.’ He was like, ‘Hang up on me and answer that.’ I was like, ‘Alright, sick.’
“The next thing I know, I’m talking to John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, saying that they’re drafting me, and they’re excited to work with me. I was like, ‘I’m excited to be there. Let’s roll.’”
It is unclear how the Seahawks were planning to trade up to select Kittle, but given his career so far, it makes one wonder how he would have fared in Seattle had they managed to get their hands on him.
Kittle signed a five-year contract extension with San Francisco in 2020, so it looks like Seattle will, unfortunately, have to deal with him in his prime years.
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