Tag: Tight end University

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce’s three-day Tight End University summit begins today

Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Greg Olsen’s inaugural Tight End University summit kicks off today.

Kansas City Chiefs TE Travis Kelce, San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle and former NFL TE Greg Olsen are set to host over 40 NFL tight ends for the inaugural Tight End University summit in Nashville, Tennessee this week.

The summit will run Wednesday through Friday at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville. The mission of the summit is to help unite the tight ends, one of the most diverse positions in the league, under a common goal of improving and advancing the position. It’s similar in theory to Von Miller’s Pass Rush Summit or Lane Johnson’s OL Masterminds Summit. They’re getting some of the best and the brightest players in the league together to collaborate and learn from each other.

The players in attendance will have a number of activities taking place over the three-day period. Those activities will range from film study to on-field work. They’ll get a chance to exchange ideas and theories about the position group, covering responsibilities like receiving, route-running, pass-blocking, and run-blocking. They’ll even host a camp for the Boys & Girls Club, giving a number of children a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get active with a group of NFL stars.

A number of sponsors are helping the players put on the event — including Bud Light, Charmin, Bose, Body Armor and Nike. They’ll also help those players raise money for charity during the three-day event.

If the summit goes well and proves to be productive, it could become something that’s put on annually by the trio of Kelce, Kittle and Olsen. Initially, they only expected 20 or so players to attend, but it’s already grown larger than they could have imagined. There is even potential for growth in future years to include more NFL players at the tight end position.

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George Kittle explains Tim Tebow’s Tight End University snub

George Kittle said there weren’t enough spots to invite new Jaguar Tim Tebow to his “Tight End University” event.

Newly signed Jaguars tight end Tim Tebow is still learning the ropes at his new position, but he won’t have the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the league at the Tight End University event in Nashville, Tennessee.

The event, which is run by San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and retired NFL tight end Greg Olsen, is intended as an opportunity for the best tight ends around the league to train and share information. But Tebow was not one of the 50-plus players to receive an invite.

In an appearance on the podcast “Pardon My Take,” Kittle and Olsen explained Tebow’s omission.

“So, nothing against Tim Tebow, but I found it hard to invite — I wish nothing but the best for Tim Tebow, and I hope he has a fantastic season playing tight end — but it’s hard for me not to invite a backup tight end on, let’s say the New York Giants, as opposed to inviting a guy who just started playing the tight end position because we do have limited spots,” Kittle said, according to quotes transcribed by David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “I wish I could make it so every NFL tight end can come, (so) it’s accessible to everybody. But what we tried to do this year, we wanted to pay for everything for all the tight ends that come to kind of make it a special event for all tight ends.”

Kittle explained that there wasn’t enough room to invite Tebow. After all, not every backup tight end in the league received an invitation to the event, so it would be hard to justify extending one to a player who just started playing the position.

“We booked up an entire hotel,” he said. “They’re completely out of rooms. We have every room taken. We blocked off a certain amount of rooms, so we’re completely out of rooms. We thought we were going to get like 20 guys, and the next thing I know, we have 47 confirmed as of last week, and I think we just got past 50. Just, wow, that’s a lot of guys.”

Tebow was considered a longshot player to make the roster when he was signed, but this is a Jacksonville team that still desperately needs help at tight end. James O’Shaughnessy likely projects as the top option, but he had just 28 catches last year. Free-agent addition Chris Manhertz and fifth-round pick Luke Farrell are primarily blocking tight ends, while Tyler Davis, a sixth-round pick in 2020, only saw two targets and no catches as a rookie.

The path to making the roster, and potentially having an impact on the field, is there for Tebow. But the 33-year-old hasn’t been on a 53-man NFL roster since 2012, and an invite to TEU could’ve helped him findamentally.

Olsen said that if Tebow were to make a roster and “officially” become a tight end, that they would love to have him at the event.

“If he’s on a roster this year, and he plays tight end, we would love to have him, we would love to work with him,” he said. “Once he’s officially a tight end, we would love to work with him.”

It seems if Tebow wants to be a part of this exclusive group in the future, he’ll need to wait and prove it on the field first.

Falcons rookie Kyle Pitts invited to Tight End University summit

Falcons rookie tight end Kyle Pitts is already taking the appropriate steps in honing his craft at the NFL level.

Falcons rookie tight end Kyle Pitts already appears to have the necessary talent to be a difference-making player at the NFL level. However, first-year tight ends have rarely made an impact.

As Pitts looks to buck this trend, he’s been invited to a tight end summit created by veterans Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Greg Olsen. What’s being referred to as “Tight End University” will gather some of the best tight ends from around the league to participate down in Nashville, Tennessee this summer.

Joining Pitts in Nashville is former Titans tight end Jonnu Smith, who spent the last two seasons playing in Arthur Smith’s offense in Tennessee. Smith is just one of a dozen veterans attending that can share valuable first-hand knowledge with the Falcons rookie.

Others expected to be present at TEU include Darren Waller, T.J. Hockenson, Mark Andrews, Mike Gesicki, Robert Tonyan, Noah Fant, Zach Ertz, Cole Kmet, Eric Ebron and David Njoku.

Don’t rule out Jaguars tight end Tim Tebow, as Ebron suggested Thursday on Twitter with mixed reactions.

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