The 49ers waited for seven weeks to vote for captains. Tight end George Kittle has done enough in one season and seven weeks to be one of them.
Via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle, a recent election resulted in Kittle and tackle Joe Staley becoming the offensive captains. The defensive captains are defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and cornerback Richard Sherman, who is in his first year with the team. Kicker Robbie Gould is the special-teams captain.
Kittle was asked whether his new status comes as a surprise.
“Yes and no,” he said, via Branch. “We’ve got a lot of veteran guys on the team . . . but coach [Kyle] Shanahan said it was just based on the season so far, and I feel like I’ve been playing really well. So [it wasn’t] expected, but I really appreciate it. Any time you can be voted a captain by your peers is always a great thing.”
Shanahan wasn’t surprised.
“The players see all those things,” Shanahan said. “How reckless he plays -- in a good way -- to how banged up he is on Monday and what he does to get his body healthy for practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to get ready for the game. He’s all about ball 24-7.”
That’s good, and the 49ers will need that kind of spirit to avoid falling to 1-7.
