Kyle and Kristin Juszczyk were devastated when the 49ers temporarily parted ways with the fullback over the offseason — and then thrilled when they found out they were able to stay put.

The 13-year NFL veteran recalled the raw emotions from the short-but-chaotic timeline in Tuesday’s edition of the “Kittle Things” podcast with San Francisco teammate and tight end George Kittle and his wife, Claire.

“George and I are the two longest-tenured 49ers, and I only had a couple weeks on you because I was signed in March and you were drafted in April,” Kyle said of the two nine-year veterans. “But then [George] closed the gap by three days because I was released. I was a free agent for three days this offseason. Thank God, we’ve signed back. 

“One of the hardest, worst phone calls that we’ve ever had to make was FaceTiming you guys [the Kittles] — I’m getting choked up right now — to tell you guys we weren’t on the team for a little bit. It was a testament to our friendship because it definitely meant so much — the emotions that it brought up, just being able to talk to you guys about that and reflect on everything we had done. We were really sad about what we were going to miss out on. But thank God, it worked out.”

In what he has described as a “living funeral,” Kyle was released by San Francisco on March 11, before re-signing with the franchise on a two-year contract to avoid another fiasco next offseason.

And once the excited Juszczyks shared word of their new deal with the 49ers, the Kittles were equally as thrilled.

“The best part was when you guys called us to tell us you were re-signing,” George said. “We were at a wedding in Dahlonega, Georgia — I’ll never forget, because it’s such a great name. It was the maid of honor speech … Me and Claire got up in the middle of the maid of honor speech and just left.”

“Like, ‘We got to take this,’” Claire added. “We were like screaming on the deck in the back, and she’s giving a heartfelt message.”

The Juszczyks and Kittles are extremely close. And for a minute, it looked like the Juszczyks were going to be begrudgingly leaving the Bay, potentially straining their local friendship with the Kittles.

However, Kyle and George remain teammates on the 7-4 49ers, allowing the two couples still to have the opportunity to be around each other frequently.

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