George Kittle was shaken awake at the Santa Clara Marriott by his training-camp roommate, who had news that would change his immediate future and forever alter the way he viewed his NFL career. It was Aug. 29, 2017, and Kittle, then the San Francisco 49ers’ anonymous rookie tight end, was shocked when Cole Hikutini told him the team’s starting tight end was no longer their teammate. “He woke me up with, ‘Dude, we just traded Vance,'” Kittle said. “And I was like, ‘Holy cow, it can change so fast.'”

The 49ers had dealt tight end Vance McDonald to the Steelers, partly because Kittle, a fifth-round pick, had shown surprising promise and was deemed ready for a larger-than-expected role as a rookie. Seven years, 503 catches, 6,834 yards and 44 touchdowns later, Kittle relayed that story Thursday because he’s spent his All-Pro career fueled by a fear that he’ll become another McDonald, a big-money veteran pushed aside by an up-and-comer no one saw coming. More For You 49ers head into Seahawks game worried about Nick Bosa, George Kittle and Trent Williams

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“You have to prove it every single day, otherwise they are always looking to find improvements,” Kittle said to the Chronicle. “So that was an immediate wake-up call for me.” This season, Kittle, 31, is still offering zero evidence that he could be jettisoned anytime soon. He enters Sunday’s game against the Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium ranked second in the NFL with seven touchdown catches and is on pace for 1,120 yards, which would be the second most of his eight-season career and make him the fifth tight end in NFL history with four 1,000-yard seasons. With 166 more receiving yards, Kittle will join Travis Kelce and Antonio Gates as the only players at his position with at least 500 catches and 7,000 yards in his first eight years.

49ers vs. Seahawks Kickoff: 1:05 p.m. FOX (104.5, 680) Spotlight on CB Deommodore Lenoir: Five days after signing a five-year, $92 million contract extension, the big-money cover man will face a big challenge: WR DK Metcalf (6-foot-4, 235 pounds). Of course, Lenoir might have inspired the 49ers to pony up with a midseason deal based on his performance against Metcalf in the 49ers’ 36-24 win at Seattle on Oct. 10. Lenoir often lined up against the two-time Pro Bowl selection and was the biggest reason Metcalf managed only three catches for 48 yards on 11 targets. Metcalf, known for on his on-field volatility, is likely aware of some of Lenoir’s postgame comments. Said Lenoir: “One of us showed up.”

Injury notes: 49ers – DT Kevin Givens (groin) is out; LT Trent Williams (ankle), DE Nick Bosa (hip), TE George Kittle (ankle) and LG Aaron Banks (thigh) are questionable. Seahawks – TEs Noah Fant (groin) and Brady Russell (foot) are out. Three things to watch – Seahawks starting center Connor Williams, 27, retired during the week, ending his seven-season, 92-game career. He will be replaced by Olu Oluwatimi, a 2023 fifth-round pick with one career start.

– Including playoffs, RB Christian McCaffrey has had at least 125 yards from scrimmage in each of his six career games against the Seahawks (four with the 49ers). Jim Brown is the only player in NFL history with 125-plus scrimmage yards in seven straight games against the same opponent. – Seattle, which ranks 26th in the NFL in rushing defense (139.4 yards per game), released starting LB and leading tackler Tyrel Dodson during the week. The 49ers rushed for a season-high 228 yards vs. Seattle in October.

Still, the possibility of a pink slip, demotion, trade or some other form of rejection remains real. After Kittle had six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown in a win against the Cowboys on Oct. 27, he said, with sincerity, that ge was continuing to “really prove that I need to be on the San Francisco 49ers roster.” “If you don’t have an itch in the back of your neck that someone’s coming to take your job every single day, then your job’s going to get taken from you,” Kittle said. “That is an itch that I’ve had.”

Kittle discussed his career during a 30-minute interview and, in the process, it became clear how so many of his defining qualities are tied to his greatest fear. Take his passion for run blocking. Part of that is in Kittle’s DNA as his father, Bruce, was a decorated offensive lineman at Iowa. However, Kittle explained that part of the enjoyment he takes in the unglamorous part of the job is connected to job security: When he inevitably gets slower, he can still provide premium value by remaining violent.

“I always knew I was an athletic, fast guy,” Kittle said. “But if you can be an athletic, fast, guy and also be a vital part of the run game, there’s just not many guys that can do it. So that’s why I’ve always taken such pride in it because I know it makes me very unique. And if I can keep doing those things consistently, I feel like I’ll be in the league for quite a while.” At Iowa, Kittle rarely played in his first two seasons before a wave of injuries prior to his junior year helped move him up the depth chart. Kittle went from fifth-string to a starter for the Hawkeyes’ spring game largely because so many of his teammates were sidelined, but he maintained his first-string role by seizing the opportunity caused by attrition.

It was a pre-NFL lesson about what can happen if you come off the field. And it explains why Kittle’s ability to play through injuries is unique in a league in which grit is prerequisite. “George Kittle is the truest form of that,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “He’s banged up every week, it seems like, and he still goes out there and balls out.”

Kittle has appeared on the injury report in his career due to issues with his knee, ankle, groin, ribs, back, elbow, hamstring, hip and toe. He also has a balky right shoulder that he dislocated in the 2018 preseason that he’s said will require surgery in retirement. He’s missed more than three games in a season only once, in 2020 when he had a broken foot. “He’s a warrior,” pass rusher Nick Bosa said. “There’s a lot of guys in this league who wouldn’t play through the things he plays through every year.”

And Kittle’s 2023 season provided perhaps the best example. It was previously known that Kittle had a core muscle injury he played with last year that required offseason surgery that caused him to lose about 30 pounds. On Thursday, however, he revealed more details of what he endured during the final three months of a season in which he had 65 catches for 1,020 yards and six touchdowns and didn’t miss a game until the meaningless regular-season finale. During surgery, it was discovered that Kittle’s right adductor, a group of muscles that span from the pelvic bone to the inner thigh and knee, was completely detached, which wasn’t caught on an MRI during the season.

“The guy who did my surgery in Philadelphia described it like a baseball and stitching around my core was about 75% torn,” Kittle said. “So I was basically playing without a core. And then he found that my adductor was detached. So figuring out ways to play through that was exhilarating. When you wake up in pain, it’s not the most fun to go run outside zone on a Thursday.” Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Kittle’s toughness is part of why he’s a seven-time team captain, earning the honor every year since his rookie season.

“I used to call George in all the time his rookie year and ask him how his ankle is feeling or something like that,” Shanahan said. “And I couldn’t even have a conversation with him, he’d be like, ‘Yes, sir, it’s perfect. I’m fine. No, I don’t feel anything.’ And then I would watch him limp out of my office.” Shanahan joked about Kittle’s transformation, noting that as a rookie he wore “boring” socks and “had no wristbands, less tattoos and shorter hair.” Now among the league’s most entertaining and marketable players, Kittle is a corporation whose laundry list of endorsements include deals with Nike, Bud Light, Gatorade, Panda Express, Adobe, Xbox, Levi’s, Panini, Bose and Visa.

Kittle, who signed a five-year, $75 million contract extension in 2020, was aware when he became a pitchman after his breakout 2018 season that the wave of off-field-opportunities provided an opportunity for him to lose focus. With that in mind, he established rules with his marketing team. He would earmark two weeks in the offseason for commercials – three days in March and three more in June – and all would be filmed at his offseason home in Nashville, many at his 75-acre property which includes a football field and a three-story gym that’s a converted horse barn.

“They usually come to me and film at my place after I’m done with my four hours of body maintenance or whatever,” Kittle said. “It’s like, ‘No, I’m not going to L.A. to record this. You guys can come here or the deal is just not going to work.’ … All I really care about is winning football games.” Kittle’s love of the game is well documented, but he also has a clear-eyed view of the business. He and his agent, Jack Bechta, had contentious contract-extension negotiations with the 49ers four years ago in which he says he saw the “behind the curtain.”

“Anytime someone is telling you what they think your value is, specifically like when they lowball the hell out of you, it’s not a really fun feeling,” he said. He harbors no grudges with the team’s front office, but he’s also aware that the franchise he wants to finish his career with may not let him realize his “dream.” In March, defensive tackle Arik Armstead, his longtime teammate, was released in a cost-saving move, and Pro Bowl fullback Kyle Juszczyk, one of his best friends, was forced to take a pay cut.

Kittle’s performance this season is a reason he’s likely to avoid a similar fate with his contract set to expire after the 2025 season. As a rookie, however, the trading of McDonald provided an enduring lesson in how quickly careers can change. And it gave him an even greater resolve to follow the challenging counsel of his first position coach, Jon Embree.

“He always told me, ‘Just play so well that they literally can’t take you off the field and they can’t replace you,'” Kittle said. “And I took that one to heart.”