How George Kittle Made George Karlaftis a Super Bowl Legend
First possession of the Super Bowl, the 49ers are cruising down the field. Christian McCaffrey is average about 9 yards per carry. He runs to his right behind George Kittle, who's blocking George Karlaftis, and the play is coming to a close, and Kittle lets up a little bit.
As you know, Kittle is a jokester. He likes to have fun when he plays football, likes to keep things light. And he hasn't heard the whistle yet, but he assumes that McCaffrey is about to go, and so he says, "Hi, George" midplay to Karlaftis, who doesn't respond, because Karlaftis sees that McCaffrey just fumbled and the ball is rolling right by Kittle's feet and Karlaftis falls on it first and the Chiefs recover.
So let's be real clear -- there's Good George and Bad George on this play, and Bad George is George Kittle, because he stopped playing to be funny and cute. And the other George, gets the ball and now the 49ers don't score. Most people haven't heard of George Karlaftis, but he's now a champion. As opposed to George Kittle, who's extremely famous, but not a champion. And saying, "Hi, George," is not a champion thing to do. To be joking in the Super Bowl before the whistle blows is embarrassing. It's not as embarrassing as Kyle Shanahan not knowing the playoff rules for overtime, but it's up there.
Now George Karlaftis is a hero because George Kittle was standing there joking around a clown.
How unexpected.
