At 6-foot-7 and 295 pounds and at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, Carolina Panthers legends Julius Peppers and Cam Newton were two absolute freaks of nature on the football field. So just imagine the shock of having to face them both—and in your NFL debut, no less.
Well, George Kittle didn’t have to imagine it, because he actually experienced it.
The San Francisco 49ers tight end lived to tell that tale on this week’s episode of the Cleats & Convos podcast, hosted by his teammate and All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel. When Samuel asked Kittle about his “Welcome to the NFL” moment, Kittle looked back on his regular-season debut against the Panthers from 2017 . . .
Kittle’s welcome to the NFL moment was vs Julius Peppers 😆
“He had the all-black visor with the crazy facemask and I was like, I’m gonna die” pic.twitter.com/VaC4uqPGj6
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) October 18, 2024
That matchup saw Carolina dominate San Francisco en route to a 23-3 victory. Newton passed for a pair of touchdowns while Peppers, in the first game of his second act with the Panthers, posted half a sack.
Kittle, who came out a-okay, reeled in five passes for 27 yards.
