George Kittle Ponders If Seahawks' Super Bowl Win Could Be ‘good Luck' For 49ers

George Kittle ponders if Seahawks' Super Bowl win could be ‘good luck' for 49ers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Leave it to George Kittle to find a silver lining in the most unfortunate of events: a Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl title.

Appearing as a guest on “The Rich Eisen Show,” the 49ers tight end managed to spin Seattle’s Super Bowl LX victory at Levi’s Stadium in February—after which the Seahawks celebrated in San Francisco’s home locker room—into a message of hope for the upcoming 2026 NFL season.

“One, you can look at it like the normal Niners fan and player and be like ‘Yo, we’ve just got to do whatever we can just to get that [feeling] out of our locker room,’ ” Kittle told host Rich Eisen. “Or, you could look at the optimistic point of view and say ‘Well, the last team to play here did win a Super Bowl in here, so there’s probably a lot of good luck in here, too.’ So why not just take advantage of it?”

Of course, not every fan will agree with Kittle’s glass-half-full perspective. Seattle’s 29-13 triumph over the New England Patriots and subsequent locker-room victory party seemed to underscore several aspects of the 49ers’ own Super Bowl drought, ongoing since the end of the 1994 NFL season.

The championship was Seattle’s second in the past decade-and-a-half, coming in head coach Mike Macdonald’s second season at the helm. Meanwhile, in an otherwise very successful nine-year run under coach Kyle Shahnahan, the 49ers have yet to secure a Lombardi Trophy despite two Super Bowl appearances.

The visual of the Seahawks filling the Levi’s Stadium locker room with cigar smoke and covering the carpet in liquor—with former 49er quarterback Sam Darnold leading the way—just added insult to injury.

Kittle refused to let his outlook waver, however, even when Eisen’s production crew began to air images of Darnold celebrating his Super Bowl win on the field during the interview.

“You know what, you guys would put up Sam Darnold’s cute face in front of me,” Kittle joked of the red-haired Seahawks quarterback. “He is my day-walker brother. Look at that nice, orange beard. Oh my gosh, I am such a Sam Darnold fan. He didn’t invite me to [his] wedding but I won’t hold that against him.”

The 49ers hope Kittle and his positive energy return early in the 2026 season, as they seek their own long-awaited champagne celebration.

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast