Most San Francisco 49ers fans probably aren’t too thankful for quarterback C.J. Beathard, given the fact that his tenure with the team didn’t exactly go swimmingly, but he played a role in the team drafting tight end George Kittle, which is one of the more important decisions in the history of the franchise.
In a recent article by Matt Barrows of The Athletic, which details how unlikely it is that Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk ended up making it on San Francisco’s historic “10-year” wall and is well worth a read, he includes a line about how Beathard helped assuage any fears the 49ers had about Kittle given his reputation as a partier while at the University of Iowa.
“[Kittle] caught their eye only because they were intent on drafting Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard, a close friend of Kittle’s whose backing of the tight end helped ease the doubts sown by Iowa,” Barrows wrote.
George Kittle wasn't the Iowa product the 49ers had in mind
That shows that Beathard was willing to stand up for his teammate, even if not all of their coaches at Iowa loved him. Maybe if the Niners didn't have such interest in Beathard, ultimately misguided as it turns out, they never would have been willing to take a shot on Kittle in the fifth round.
It’s hard to imagine this era of football under head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch playing out the way it has without Kittle in the fold. In so many ways he’s been the standard for 49ers football with his skill and fun-loving attitude that fuels the locker room.
He is on track to be in the Hall of Fame and might even be on pace to be one of the greatest 49ers of all time. It’s almost impossible to picture him with another team, so one hopes he can spend his entire career with San Francisco, something that has rarely been done, even among other 49ers greats like Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Ronnie Lott.
Kittle is having another huge year despite coming off major injury
Even in 2026, it’s remarkable that Kittle has been as productive as ever. He has 34 catches for 425 yards and five touchdowns. It’s easy to forget that he literally tore his Achilles earlier this year, and yet somehow he’s come back and hasn't missed a beat.
The only thing that’s missing from his resume at this point, which keeps him somewhat apart from other 49ers legends, is that he has never won a Super Bowl. Perhaps that will change this season, and he can fully join the pantheon of greats who have donned the red and gold.
Beathard may not have had the greatest four years with the Niners, but without him, Kittle might never been a Niner, and San Francisco would have been robbed of one of the greatest, most beloved icons of all time.
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