George Kittle Kills 4 a.m. Spider With Rehab Slant Board
George Kittle turned a 4 a.m. spider call from Claire into a short piece of theater on May 13, saying he used the rehab slant board by his bed to kill the intruder in one attempt. The post offered a quick look at how the San Francisco 49ers tight end is still moving through daily life while working back from a torn Achilles tendon.
Claire Wakes George Kittle
Kittle wrote that he was asleep when Claire spotted a spider in the bathroom and sent him in to handle it. He described the spider as the size of a half dollar and said he got up without hesitation.
The full post read: “At 4 am this morning, as I laid in a deep slumber, I was called to action by my wife who had discovered a spider the size of a half dollar in the bathroom. Without hesitation I arose to combat the intruder. Claire handed me the slant board I’ve been using for rehab, and I immediately knew the spider had no chance. It took but 1 attempt to strike down my opponent. I received hugs and kisses for my bravery and fell back asleep with confidence. Have a day gentlemen. ?️”
The Rehab Slant Board
The slant board stood out because it was not part of the joke alone. Kittle said it was the same one he has been using for rehab, a reminder that the injury that ended his playoff run is still shaping ordinary moments at home.
He suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the San Francisco 49ers' Wild Card win over the Philadelphia Eagles in last year's playoffs, and the team will have to make do without him for most of, if not all of, the upcoming season. That makes even a bathroom spider cameo a small but revealing detail about where he is now: close enough to rehab tools that one ended up in a 4 a.m. pest control job.
Iowa To San Francisco
Claire has been at Kittle’s side throughout his NFL career, and the two met when they were student athletes at the University of Iowa. The story fits that longer pattern: a late-night interruption, a quick response, and a line that reads like a locker-room joke but lands as a snapshot of how he is getting through the recovery period.
For 49ers followers, the useful part is not the spider itself but the reminder that Kittle’s rehab is still part of daily life and that his availability remains tied to a recovery from Achilles damage that is usually slow and demanding. The bathroom story ends with him back asleep, but it leaves the same roster reality in place for San Francisco.
