The episode opens with three pre-roll sponsor segments before the hosts appear. The Home Depot positions itself as the official FIFA World Cup 2026 supporter for backyard watch parties, promising fast free delivery on over 2 million items. Next, a quirky Mobil Supreme Plus Premium Gas ad centres on motorsport legend Shirley 'Cha-Cha' Muldowney and the claim that Mobil keeps engines three times cleaner than regular Mobil gas in port fuel-injected engines. Finally, a brief Reese's teaser uses the show's familiar 'everything happens for a Reese's' line as a comedic bridge into the episode proper.

Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce kick off the episode with their usual energy, dropping the Expedia slogan and setting up what's ahead: George Kittle as the headline guest, the interns' Tight End U recap from Nashville, and the fact that next week marks the season 4 finale. Jason rattles off Kittle's resume — 7-time Pro Bowler, 5-time All-Pro, holder of three 49ers franchise receiving records — and Travis brands him 'the people's tight end.' Kittle's audible joy at finally receiving a proper formal introduction sets the warm, high-energy tone for everything that follows.

The conversation kicks off with a cheeky question Jason has been waiting to ask: is Travis Kelce actually a tight end? Kittle gives the most diplomatic possible answer — yes, and he's probably the best ever at playing it his own way — earning a grateful laugh from Travis. The mood quickly shifts to Kittle's health, where the news is genuinely exciting. ^{[1] — George Kittle "Kittle's Achilles recovery pace: George Kittle is running at 100% body weight on an AlterG treadmill at 9 mph and has returned to cleats, p…" 06:24 Play} He describes running at 100% body weight at 9 mph on an anti-gravity AlterG treadmill, starting jump training, and returning to cleats for the first time. He credits his surgeon Alitrosh with signing off on the Bandon Dunes golf trip before the stitches were even out, and Travis confirms the trip was a success — six rounds in four days, including two 36-hole marathon days that 'crushed the group' by the final round.

Riding the high of the Bandon Dunes trip, the conversation drifts into golf travelogue territory. Kittle recounts shooting an 81 on day one ('diabolical') and finishing in the high 80s for most rounds. Jason recommends Ireland after playing courses near Dublin for the Steelers-Vikings game, while Travis pitches the Hamptons corridor — courses like National, Shinnecock (hosting the US Open), and The Bridge — as a future destination. When Kittle floats showing up for a New Heights Golf Tournament, Jason pretends they've never thought of it, and Travis gently corrects him: they've discussed it, Travis just wanted to go full PGA-level official. The segment ends with a loose promise to make it happen.

A seemingly random Thunder appearance at a game triggered a wave of social media criticism, so Kittle sets the record straight: he moved to Oklahoma for three years of high school and attended Thunder games featuring Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Nick Collison, and Serge Ibaka. He got to see Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan play in Oklahoma City. He has been a fan since 2010 — well before the Thunder's current renaissance — and he's not apologising for it. Travis sympathises, recounting his own Twitter run-in defending his Guardians fandom before revealing he's now a part-owner of the team. Both agree the 'bandwagon' accusation is the internet's laziest criticism.

Jason asks whether Kittle ever considered going to Oklahoma given his family's deep connection there — his father coached on Bob Stoops' staff. Kittle laughs: at 6'1" and 180 pounds he wasn't exactly Oklahoma's target profile. He shares a vivid memory of watching the El Paso Sun Bowl from the Oklahoma sideline as a high school sophomore, hanging out with Trent Williams and Jermaine Gresham without them having any idea who he was. Iowa offered an athlete spot with no defined position, and his very first summer workout produced a blunt ultimatum from a coach: learn to run block or you'll never play. He spent three years on the bench, grew two inches, put on 60 pounds, and finally broke through in year four — a patient journey that, as Kittle sees it, perfectly represents the Iowa tight end archetype.

The segment opens with a flattering scouting report from Kittle on Mike Evans at his first 49ers OTA red zone period — approximately five touchdowns and the kind of subtle route-setting to create open looks that only veterans understand. ^{[1] — George Kittle "In his first red zone period at 49ers OTAs, Mike Evans scored roughly five touchdowns. Kittle calls him the most savvy veteran wide receive…" 15:34 Play} Kittle notes this is the most experienced wide receiver the team has had since Emmanuel Sanders in 2019. He adds a delightful detail: Evans is a hardcore Harry Potter reader who has read every book multiple times and will quiz teammates on potions masters and spell lore without warning. From there, the trio debates the 49ers' brutal international schedule: an estimated 40,000 travel miles, including a 15-hour flight. All three agree going out to the destination a week early beats arriving the day before — better for circadian rhythms, team bonding, and frankly just enjoying the trip.

Travis brings up Myles Garrett joining the 49ers' conference, and Kittle immediately frames it the same way he thought about Aaron Donald when the 49ers played the Rams twice a year: you design a game plan around limiting the damage. ^{[1] — Jason Kelce "At a Browns joint practice, Joe Patonii pointed out a shirtless Myles Garrett and asked Jason Kelce if he could believe they were the same …" 22:10 Play} You keep runs away from him, you always have help-side blockers on him, and then you hope none of his supporting cast goes off. Jason caps the segment with a brilliant anecdote from a Browns joint practice: defensive coordinator Joe Patonii quietly tapped Jason on the shoulder, pointed to a shirtless Garrett across the field, and asked 'can you believe we're the same species?' Both Kittle and Travis agree Garrett is the closest thing to an alien anyone has seen play football, with cat-like reflexes and the ability to reach the quarterback in three steps.

Travis asks Kittle to give the full origin story for the 92-percenters. It starts simply enough: Kittle was already training with 7 to 10 NFL tight ends in Nashville at the end of the COVID season and on a whim asked a near-retiring Greg Olsen if he'd come down to watch film. Olsen suggested inviting a couple more guys and bringing in a marketing team for a small sponsorship. ^{[1] — George Kittle "Tight End U started as Kittle inviting retiring Greg Olsen to Nashville to watch film with 7 to 10 tight ends he was already training with.…" 24:58 Play} The invite list said 20, but word spread like wildfire and the first event had 50 to 60 tight ends showing up at a high school gym called Lipscomb in Nashville. The event has grown every year since, with the newest wrinkle being Kyle Juszczyk attending to teach tight end and fullback hybrid techniques — a natural evolution as more teams use fullback-style motions from tight end alignments. Kittle is visibly excited about having Juice there, calling him the team's real-time 'fixer.'

The conversation turns to something both Kittle and Travis feel strongly about: tight ends are getting more recognition, but the pay still doesn't match the workload — especially for the blocking specialists. ^{[1] — George Kittle "The tight end room is creeping up in NFL pay, but number-three wide receivers catching 30 balls a season are still getting over $20 million…" 29:16 Play} Kittle cites the absurdity directly: number-three wide receivers catching 30 passes a year are earning north of $20 million while a tight end playing 50 snaps per game and throwing his body into edge defenders might earn half that. Charlie Kohler getting paid by the Chargers as a blocking tight end is a sign of progress, Kittle notes, but there's still a gap. Jason then takes the conversation into the tactical dimension, comparing how the Shanahan-McVay offensive tree uses multi-role tight ends to how Bill Belichick used Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins as chess pieces in 3-4 sub-packages — the idea being that the more positions a player can credibly align in, the less any defense can prepare for a single personnel grouping.

Jason raises the question that every Iowa tight end gets asked: what is it about that program? Kittle's answer is structural. From day one, every player is told they will not play if they cannot run block — which immediately makes every Iowa tight end a complete two-way player rather than a receiving specialist. ^{[1] — George Kittle "Under Kirk Ferentz, every tight end who has started at Iowa has made at least an NFL practice squad. Kittle uses that stat as his entire re…" 34:28 Play} It instills an unselfish, team-first mentality before a player ever takes a snap. The pipeline numbers are striking: every tight end who has started under Kirk Ferentz has made at least an NFL practice squad, and roughly 15 of 18 have made full active rosters. Kittle uses this as his literal recruiting pitch — not national championships, not glamour, just a near-certain path to the league. He caps it by noting Iowa City is a fantastic college party town, which he offers without apology as a secondary selling point.

The mid-episode sponsor block covers three brands in sequence. Expedia highlights last-minute Fourth of July hotel deals of up to 25% off and its all-in-one travel booking platform. American Express Platinum is framed as the card for slow, intentional travel — access to the largest curated global hotel program compared to other card programs, as of July 2025. Mentos Gum rounds out the block with a 'say yes' theme, positioning fresh mint, spearmint, and red fruit lime flavours as a signal that you're not just grinding through the motions.

Travis opens We Gotta Ask by asking whether tight ends are a quarterback's best friend, and Kittle doesn't hesitate: yes. They're the security blanket, the easy dump-off, the bridge between the offensive line and the skill positions. Then Jason poses the real question: pancake block or touchdown? Kittle gives a diplomat's answer — touchdowns are fun because nobody tackles you, but the visceral satisfaction of feeling a defender's breath leave his body when you flatten him is almost unmatched. He particularly loves pancaking a DB who would otherwise knife your knees on the next play. The conversation then evolves into a principled defence of the cut block. Both Kittle and Jason argue that cutting a defender who can see the block coming is actually safer than letting two large humans collide full-speed — if the defender doesn't see it coming, they shouldn't be in the NFL.

The segment begins with a story about a Chip Kelly mental conditioning exercise at Philadelphia focused on emotional regulation — keep your emotions in a neutral zone to minimise uncharacteristic mistakes. Jason describes initially buying the argument, only to discover during one game that playing in a genuine rage produced a quarter he describes as 'I am fucking killing people.' He texted the dismissed teammate days later: 'You were right.' ^{[1] — George Kittle "Kittle and Jason Kelce agree: the peak performance zone isn't calm focus — it's controlled rage combined with flow state. Aaron Donald live…" 45:00 Play} George Kittle builds on this with his own framework: the ideal performance state is not calm focus but anger fused with a flow state, which creates a cognitive-physical combination that is nearly impossible to beat. He nominates Aaron Donald as the permanent resident of that zone — a player who, whenever you crossed him, was simply operating at a frequency no one else could reach. The trio closes with the observation that sustaining that level of intensity for four full quarters is nearly impossible, which is why even great players have peaks and valleys.

Kittle brings up that he gave a media interview the same day Travis publicly complained about the NFL's expanding game-day calendar — and they said virtually the same thing. Both believe that grandfathering in Monday Night Football and then Thursday Night Football stretched things far enough; spreading games to Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays strips the sport of its special weekly rhythm. Kittle invokes his childhood memory of waiting all week for Sunday football, then getting Monday Night Football as a bonus — that scarcity made each game feel like an event. Now, with games on seemingly every day, it just feels like noise.

The We Gotta Ask segment continues with a draft day story: Kittle had been told by the Seahawks that they were taking him with their next pick, so when his phone rang from Santa Clara with John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan on the line, it was a genuine surprise. The puzzle question is a playful reference to Mike Shanahan's psychometric screening process, which Kittle says he completely avoided — zero combine meetings, zero team encounters, just 'stereotypical Iowa tight end, they know what they're getting.' His Mount Rushmore, when pressed, goes Travis Kelce, Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez ('so slippery and awesome'), and Dallas Clark as a personal Iowa homer pick — noting the legendary stat about Clark and Peyton Manning's string of 54 consecutive first downs in a playoff game. ^{[1] — Jason Kelce "Kittle's career accolades: George Kittle is a 7-time Pro Bowler, 5-time All-Pro, and holds the 49ers franchise records for most receiving y…" 04:24 Play} The podcast-with-wife-or-brother question produces a sharp answer: his brother, because at least with Claire he is terrified to say the wrong thing, which keeps him disciplined.

The segment opens with Kittle casually revealing he wore the shirt for his Media Day photo shoot. ^{[1] — George Kittle "Kittle saved a photo of 49ers linebacker Gary Plummer wearing a 'F*ck Dallas' shirt on his phone for roughly nine years before finally wear…" 56:30 Play} The origin story is pure football romanticism: when Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch arrived, they made a deliberate effort to educate the roster about the 49ers' history after the team's down years. In one of those sessions, an image of 1990s linebacker Gary Plummer — yoked, thick-necked, wearing a 'F*ck Dallas' shirt pregame — was shown to the team. Kittle was immediately obsessed. He saved the photo to his phone and resolved to recreate it someday. Almost nine years later, before a 2023 game against Dallas, he finally bought the whole tight end room one. He was the only player who wore it. The result was glorious. Kittle later encountered Gary Plummer's daughter on an elevator — a coincidence that felt like closure. The shirt now lives in his locker permanently, worn for Media Day that very morning.

Travis brings up Kittle's 2025 NFL Photo of the Year — a dramatic touchdown dive — and Kittle explains that the team photographer creates black and white glass prints with a hidden colour layer: when you flip the light switch, only the colour red appears (jersey, fans, blood). The photo hangs at his home bar and workout space. The We Gotta Ask question — pancake block or killing a spider for your wife, which is more masculine — leads into an unexpectedly funny tangent. Kittle explains he was inspired by a Twitter account called Captain Andrew Luck that narrated Luck's games in Civil War-era letters to his mother. He tried something similar with a spider tweet, it went massively viral, and PETA sent him a care package and their CEO publicly roasted him. His response: he chose his wife's appreciation over PETA's goodwill.

Jason prompts Kittle for a welcome-to-the-NFL moment and Kittle asks whether he wants the off-field or on-field version — then delivers both. ^{[1] — George Kittle "In his rookie year OTAs, Kittle had been to only 3 Joe Staley interactions when the All-Pro tackle kicked open his bathroom stall mid-pee a…" 1:00:00 Play} The off-field story is an instant classic: during rookie year OTAs, Kittle and fellow rookies regularly attended the equipment staff's Thursday night softball games, then headed to a bar called Cartoon Cartoons for karaoke. Joe Staley, the 10-year veteran, attended every game and turned out to be a karaoke genius who could sell a full bar on any song. One night, Kittle is mid-pee in a stall when the door gets kicked open by Staley demanding to share. Kittle politely offered to move over and later concluded this was Staley's way of showing he liked you. The on-field story is equally vivid: Kittle's first game ever was against Cam Newton, Greg Olsen, Christian McCaffrey, and Julius Peppers. Staring at Cam Newton in full pads in the tunnel sent a jolt of awe through him. Then on one of his first plays he had one-on-one pass protection against Julius Peppers — the guy he'd played in Madden 2006 — got thrown to the ground, then actually blocked him on the next attempt.

The Kelces decompress after the George Kittle interview, with Travis noting that Kittle is 'electric' and remembers every experience with unusual clarity, while Jason emphasises how clearly his love of the game radiates through his stories — from the warm way he talked about watching tape on Gary Plummer to the awe he still carries about Julius Peppers. Two sponsor segments follow: Colgate Total is framed as a preventive system (toothpaste, mouthwash, and toothbrush) analogous to stretching before a game, and Allstate auto insurance is pitched on the simple concept of checking first before committing. An Enterprise corner kick sweepstakes ad for the FIFA World Cup rounds out the block.

The intern segment is the most energetic of the episode's non-Kittle sections. Jake and Brandon open by describing the overall vibe of Tight End U as a golden retriever beach day — every tight end running on pure joy and ball. Day one brought them to a Reese's gifting suite ('more Reese's than I've ever seen in my life'), and day two put them on the field with actual NFL tight ends, where they attempted the reaction drill and generated some less-than-flattering comments online. ^{[1] — Intern Brandon "Interns Jet's Jake and Intern Brandon described Tight End U as watching a golden retriever beach day — every NFL tight end running on pure …" 1:08:15 Play} Greg Olsen earns MVP status for appearing at every moment they needed directions. George Kittle is 'at a 12 at all times.' The surprise personality of the event is Mac Jones, who Jake names Dude of the Week for throwing to tight ends all day with infectious energy that confirms the famous Alabama cigar photo mythology. The open practice drew a crowd of 92-percenters and Chiefs fans, including a woman who got Travis to sign his rookie card. The episode's most suspenseful moment: Jake almost missing Taylor Swift's surprise appearance because he needed the bathroom, then sprinting back heels-first as the roar of the crowd told him what was happening. Brandon teased a major upcoming guest for the season finale. The segment closes with an Eagles Autism Challenge shout-out — approximately $1.25 million raised this year.

The episode closes with Travis delivering the Reese's tight end analogy ('just like tight ends are the ultimate combo of blocking and catching, Reese's is the perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate'), before Jason wraps up with a thank-you to George Kittle and the Tight End U crew. Both brothers hype next week's season 4 finale, remind listeners to follow @NewHeightsShow on all social platforms, thank the production team, and close with their standard 'Rashida Week, peace' sign-off — their warmest, most compact ritual for saying goodbye to 92-percenters.