9:20 p.m. ET
Tory BarronESPN Editor
Conclude
- Tory Barron is a Bristol-based writer and editor for ESPN.com. After retiring from playing lacrosse at UConn, the DC native decided to try her hand at writing about people who play sports.
George Kittle and Mohamed Sanu’s appearance on the I Am Athlete podcast with Brandon Marshall was chock full of revelations. While none were as amusing as Kittle’s yam ritual the night before the game (more on that later), Marshall got The People’s Tight End to discuss the San Francisco 49ers’ QB situation with Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.
2 relatives
During a segment aptly titled “Tea Time,” the former NFL wideout invited Kittle to join in the Niners’ all-consuming debate while sipping a cup of tea and asking, “Jimmy or Trey?”
After initially showing off his media training with a noncommittal response of “I love all my quarterbacks,” Kittle explained, “Trey has an insane ceiling. He just needs a few reps here and there. I just have to throw the ball a little more. You can’t really get better without playing games.
“How much better was your rookie season your third year? Simply compete against the competition. Get hit and get back up. Deal with adversity. How do you deal with it? Guys that come into the NFL and win and win a bunch of slaps in the face all their lives, it’s different. It’s a learning process. Jimmy sure was a fantastic person for Trey to study under.
Kittle was later asked what he liked to do with Jimmy G.
“Trey has one of the tallest ceilings I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Some of the things you see him do on a soccer field are like, ‘Holy cow, I can’t wait for him to throw passes to me.’ I want whoever is going to be the better quarterback this season.
“At the end of the day, it’s a deal. We’re just monetary values. We’re just cogs in the machine. I trust Kyle Shanahan. I think he’s going to pick the best quarterback. I don’t have a preference. I don’t. I like both guys They both bring different things to the table.
When Marshall sought an NFL quarterback comparison for Lance, Kittle compared him to Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen. As Bills fans will assure you, that’s high praise indeed.
Marshall went on to inquire about what Sanu and Kittle’s night-before-a-game routines entailed. Kittle credited yoga, a 24-minute Epsom salt bath (a nod to his favorite growing-up basketball player, Kobe Bryant), and eating a single sweet potato fries.
“I eat a sweet potato roast before I go to bed,” Kittle said. “Only one thing, the nice and longest – it tastes the best, I don’t know why. I started it, we had an eight-game win streak.”
Never underestimate the power of the roast.