For the fourth year this month, George Kittle (49ers), Travis Kelce (Chiefs) and Greg Olsen (Panthers, FOX Sports hosted Tight End University in Nashville with as many as 60 players from around the NFL.
Invited this year was Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride, who was a participant.
“That was fun,” McBride said Tuesday when he talked to the local media. “It was cool to be invited by George and Travis and to get out there with the guys. It was cool just to learn to see how those guys see the game. What they look for, what they do when they run routes. Kinda see what goes on in their brain. And then to go out there and work out, perform with these guys and see how they run routes, how they catch the ball, how they warm up. All the things that they do. It was a lot of fun. Very beneficial. I learned a lot and plan on going as long as I can.”
McBride added, “It’s a cool group of guys. There’s a ton of guys there. They’re all there for the same reasons, trying to spread knowledge, help each other out and get the tight-end position to grow as much as they can. It was very cool to be a part of that and to work out with those guys for a few days was a blast.”
Kittle said, “Really the whole point of Tight End U was to bring all these guys together and create great friendships so they get to know each other. Next time you see them, a game in September or October, you see the guys across the field and can say, ‘Hey, I hung out with you guys this past June. We became friends.’ You can do a jersey swap.
“If you have a question about a defense, you can call a friend and ask him, ‘Hey, what were you thinking on this?’ And it brings some attention to the tight-end position, but also brings the guys together to have some fun.”
Some of that fun also included a flag football game with high-school girls from some of Tennessee’s sanctioned teams, a “Tight Ends and Friends” country concert that featured Jelly Roll and a closing pool party where golfer Bryson DeChambeau was present shortly after winning the U.S. Open.
When asked about the young standout tight ends that were there, Kittle said, “There’s a ton of guys. I think the easiest answer would be Sam LaPorta (Lions). He had a fantastic rookie season. He’s an Iowa (where Kittle went to college) guy. He knows how to play the game the right way. He’s got the right mindset for it in an awesome offense. Trey McBride for Arizona; he’s a young guy, but had a great year last year. He’s just going to keep getting better.”
When McBride was asked his reaction to Kittle mentioning him, he said, “For a guy that’s in the same division, a guy that we play twice a year, to kind of have that mutual respect for one another is very cool. And hopefully I can continue to get better, continue to grow and be one of those guys that he said.”
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