LOS ANGELES — Earlier this month, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan regretted that he couldn’t help tight end George Kittle break the record for most receiving yards in a game against the Denver Broncos. Kittle came up 5 yards short of breaking that record.
But Kittle would not be denied the single-season record for receiving yards by a tight end. In Sunday’s 48-32 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Kittle posted nine catches for 149 yards to surpass New England’s Rob Gronkowski and Kansas City’s Travis Kelce for the most receiving yards by a tight end in a season.
Kittle, a fifth-round pick in 2017, finished his breakout second season with 1,377 yards on 87 catches to go with five touchdowns.
The @NFL record for most receiving yards in a single season by a tight end belongs to @gkittle46 🙌 pic.twitter.com/rOr9WUyEAd
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) December 31, 2018
Going into Sunday, Gronkowski owned the record at 1,327 from his 2011 season, with Kelce behind Gronkowski by 53 yards and Kittle trailing by 99.
Kelce surpassed Gronkowski with 62 yards in a win against the Oakland Raiders, but that record didn’t stand for long.
With Shanahan calling timeouts and the Niners feeding Kittle the ball late in the blowout loss, Kittle needed just 4 yards to pass Kelce. He caught a quick out from quarterback Nick Mullens on the left sideline, made a tackler miss and raced 43 yards for a touchdown to set the record.
Earlier this week, Kittle acknowledged the record would be meaningful but was quick to remind he’d trade it for a better team record.
“It’s a fun goal,” Kittle said. “It’s something that is definitely a target. I definitely want to get it done. It’s not a lost cause if I don’t get it done. But it’s definitely, it would be really fun for us.”