SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- At 5:30 on a late March morning, eight weeks after surgery to repair his torn right Achilles, San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle was wide-awake.
Kittle and a close group of friends had traveled to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon for six rounds in four days. For 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk and others of the traveling party, it was a leisurely weekend on the links. For Kittle, it was an important step in his road back to the football field, a path he had defiantly proclaimed could have him ready for Week 1 in Melbourne, Australia. Which is why, when Juszczyk came downstairs to begin loosening up for that day's rounds, he found Kittle meticulously picking up a towel with his toes.
It was a prime example of Kittle's disciplined approach to rehab his injured Achilles, and a side of Kittle the public rarely sees beneath the ebullient pro wrestling persona. This was the passionate, football-obsessed Kittle who had no desire to let anyone else author the timeline of his return.
"It's fun to be doubted," Kittle, 32, told ESPN last week. "I'm not a chip-on-my-shoulder guy whatsoever, but when you have all the people who are like, 'Oh, you're not doing this, you're not doing that.' I'm like, 'I am doing that and extra. You believe whatever you want, you can talk however you want to talk, but when you see me Week 1, you can kick rocks.'"