It was September 9, 2018 when George Kittle’s favorite holiday, National Tight Ends Day, was born. But the 49ers tight end can’t take credit for its creation.
On Thursday, the All-Pro shared the origins of his special day and the story might surprise you. A certain quarterback inadvertently played a huge role in developing the special day.
“It was a conversation between Garrett Celek, Jimmy [Garoppolo] and myself,” Kittle said. “I’m pretty sure it was a day when all the tight ends were active. So Jimmy G was like, ‘What is it, National Tight Ends Day?’ We’re like, ‘Yeah, it’s a holiday, man. It’s National Tight Ends Day.’”
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Kittle, of course, believes that every day should be spent celebrating his favorite position, but is happy to be recognized during the last weekend in October by the league. He is thankful to the NFL for getting all of his position mates across the league involved by being be mic’d up and recognized during their games.
“We just kind of rolled with it,” Kittle said. “Garrett Celek had a touchdown on that day. It was our first National Niners Tight Ends Day but in my opinion, every day is National Tight Ends Day.”
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The origin story Kittle referenced was Week 2 of the 2018 season, and Garoppolo’s seventh start with the 49ers. The quarterback led his offense to a 30-27 win over the Detroit Lions. Four passes were caught by tight ends combined. One, as Kittle mentioned, was a touchdown made by Celek.
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“I was trying to get George, Celek, all those guys fired up, declaring it National Tight Ends Day,” Garoppolo said Thursday. “And now it’s a holiday, so congrats to those guys.”
When the 49ers face the New England Patriots on Sunday, Kittle will be doing his part celebrating -- as a productive part of the offense as always.