George Kittle's NFL record shows 49ers tight end's determination, grit

LOS ANGELES -- George Kittle had two plays to make NFL history as the 49ers' season-ending loss to the Rams wound down Sunday.

Kittle had pulled within 8 yards of the league's single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end midway through the fourth quarter. It was just 5 yards to the goal line, and the 49ers didn't use Kittle on any of the three plays it took for them to score.

So, the 49ers' defense had to get a stop to allow Kittle another chance to break the mark. It did, and coach Kyle Shanahan then told Kittle he would have two shots at breaking the 1,336-yard record that Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce had set less than an hour prior.

With 2:37 left on the game clock, Mullens threw a short pass to Kittle, putting him within 2 yards of the record. The next play looked to be a short pass to the left that would break it, but it did more than that: Kittle took it 43 yards for a touchdown -- the final score in the 49ers' 48-32 defeat.

"We told him as soon as he gets it, we're done," Shahanan said. "It's pretty cool that he turned it into a touchdown. He's done a hell of a job."

Kittle finished the season with 88 catches for the NFL-record 1,377 yards and five touchdowns.

After the game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, he still was slightly in shock.

"It hasn't really hit me yet," he said, "but it's definitely exciting."

Kittle credited the team with helping him break the record, adding he would've enjoyed a win but making history made it a little better.

“It was huge,” Shanahan said. “We were hoping that it would work out that way. At the end, he made a few big plays. I was happy the defense got a stop at the end there to give him a chance to go for it."

With the game out of reach, Shanahan would have started to sit players as to not risk injury, but he knew he owed his second-year tight end after a miss at history earlier this season, Plus, the coach said, "the whole team and us wanted to get that for Kittle."

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Kittle came within 5 yards of breaking Shannon Sharpe's single-game record for most receiving yards by a tight end three weeks ago when he recorded 210 yards in the first half of the 49ers' win over the Denver Broncos. Shanahan previously apologized to Kittle and felt like he “owed him one” after the tight end didn't have a catch in the second half of that game.

“A little bit,” Shanahan said, jokingly. “Definitely did. He let me know about it. So did his mom … and dad. We tried to make it up to him.”

Veteran left tackle Joe Staley joked that the entire purpose of the last drive was for Kittle to break the record. There even might have been some banter directed toward the Rams' defense.

“We were basically telling them,” Staley said, “‘We’re just out here to throw the ball to Kittle, so don’t guard him!’”

Kittle also broke Eric Johnson’s 49ers single-season record for receptions by a tight end with his 88. Johnson caught 82 of his 117 targets for 825 yards and two touchdowns in his record-setting 2004 season.

Quarterback C.J. Beathard, who also was Kittle's teammate in college at Iowa, couldn't have been happier for the tight end, saying he hoped the record would "stand for hopefully 100-plus years." He has been impressed with Kittle the entire season, especially his big-play capability.

"It shows what kind of player he is," the quarterback said. "Especially his runs after the catch. He turns a 5-yard play into a 50-yard touchdown. He's been doing that all season long. It says a lot about him."

Veteran cornerback Richard Sherman had similar thoughts about Kittle's last play, which he said "was like a microcosm" of the tight end as a player and a person.

"It’s a 5-yard gain for the record, and he takes it 40 yards, scores a touchdown," Sherman said. "He just never stops playing.”

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Beathard also has noticed Kittle playing with a higher level of anger this season.

"You can see that in his style of play," the quarterback said. "No one wants to mess with him. He’s trying to run guys over and get off tackles, and no one wants to tackle the guy.”

While it was another loss to end a disappointing 4-12 season, it sounds like a few 49ers might have felt a little bit better after the game because of what Kittle accomplished.