{"id":266799,"date":"2025-08-06T16:36:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T16:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/266799\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T16:36:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T16:36:11","slug":"49ers-star-george-kittle-said-he-considered-retirement-after-league-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/266799\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers star George Kittle said he \u2018considered retirement\u2019 after league ban"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle <\/a>was so upset about the NFL\u2019s new ban on smelling salts that he crashed a teammate\u2019s live interview to voice his objections.<\/p>\n

NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo<\/a> shared a screenshot of the memo sent out by the league Tuesday that stated the NFL\u2019s Head, Neck and Spine Committee banned the use of ammonia inhalants, also known as smelling salts, from being used before any game and from being seen on the sideline or in locker rooms. The league pointed to a 2024 FDA warning<\/a> about the usage of smelling salts because they can help mask head injuries such as concussions.<\/p>\n

Kittle was upset about the new rule and decided to crash the NFL Network\u2019s \u201cInside Training Camp\u201d<\/a> segment that was covering 49ers practice. While 49ers linebacker Fred Warner<\/a> was being interviewed, Kittle approached the set, asked for a microphone and shared his displeasure about the new rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I just came up here to air a grievance,\u201d Kittle said. \u201cOur team had a memo today that smelling salts and ammonia packets were made illegal in the NFL, and I\u2019ve been distraught all day. I considered retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even though it sounded as if he was joking about retiring, Kittle said that he\u2019s used smelling salts before every drive he went out on the field. Still, Kittle wants the league to reconsider the measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to figure out a middle ground here, guys,\u201d Kittle said. \u201cSomebody help me out. Somebody come up with a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.<\/p>\n

Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.<\/p>\n

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle was so upset about the NFL\u2019s new ban on smelling salts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,6,3846,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-266799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-nflraw24","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","14":"tag-sanfrancisco","15":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114982799831306796","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}