George Kittle says Kyle Shanahan once challenged him to a fight during a golf outing in Cabo, and the exchange ended with the 49ers coach getting carried to the beach and dumped in the ocean.
Kittle said the moment happened four or five years ago, on a trip the group takes after every year to hang out. He said Cabo is an easy flight and that he really, really enjoys the golf courses there, which made the setting feel routine right up until the conversation turned strange on the back nine.
That was when, Kittle said, Shanahan told him, “I think I could take you in a fight.” Kittle shot back, “Really? You think you could take me in a fight, Kyle?” Shanahan answered, “Yeah, I think I could,” and Kittle replied, “All right. Bring it.”
Kittle said the challenge came on hole 15 or 16 while he was golfing with Shanahan, his wife and their kids. What happened next was less a duel than a moment of pure leverage: Shanahan rushed him, Kittle said he picked him up, put him over his shoulder, walked him down to the beach on a par 3 by the ocean and put him in the water.
The anecdote landed in a daily 49ers roundup on Friday, July 24, 2026, alongside a projection that the 49ers could finish 9-8, miss the playoffs and slip behind the Rams and Seahawks in the NFC West. It is a small story, but it fits the larger picture around San Francisco: a team still built around familiar names, still defined by relationships, and still carrying the kind of confidence that can make even a joke sound like a challenge.
