SANTA CLARA -- Brock Purdy returned to college after a junior season in which Iowa State finished 9-3 and No. 9 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The next season did not go nearly as well.
But, as 49ers tight end George Kittle sees it, the down times might have been the best thing to set up the now-rookie quarterback for the NFL.
Kittle highlighted how Purdy’s mixed results in college, including a 7-6 record as a senior, was a big factor that boosted him toward immediate success in the pros.
“Football is the most humbling thing we have in our lives right now,” Kittle said earlier this week in an exclusive “49ers Talk” interview. “You can be riding the roller-coaster, high on life, and then you can get punched in the gut. You lose a game and you can fumble the ball.
“Everyone can love you one week and hate you 24 hours later. That’s just football.”
Purdy showed a hint of that resiliency in the 49ers’ playoff opener last week against the Seattle Seahawks. He got off to a rough start, including missing a wide-open Deebo Samuel on the first play of the game, but turned it around, completing 18 of 30 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, and adding another TD on the ground.
San Francisco 49ers
“If you’re the reason you lost, being able to bounce back from that and maintain your confidence, that’s an acquired skill set,” Kittle said. “Not everybody has that.
“If you’ve won your entire life, you might not know how to bounce back, especially when the pressure is at its highest.”
Purdy, the 262nd and final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, leads the 49ers into Sunday’s divisional-round playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium.
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Purdy benefited greatly from his college experience, which consisted of 46 consecutive starts to finish his career.
Said Kittle: “I’m not going to compare an Iowa State college football game to the NFL playoffs, but to be able to bounce back from doing something bad, a bad mistake, an interception, a bad throw ... that’s how you win football games.”