San Francisco 49ers’ George Kittle Used Stem Cells to Recover From Foot Injury Sooner Than Expected

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle told GQ he used stem cells to recover from a knee injury in 2020 at least one week sooner than expected.

Kittle had an injury-plagued season in 2020 in which he missed eight games to multiple injuries, including a foot injury in Week 8 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Kittle said he was told he'd miss six to eight weeks after the injury, which means he would only play one game at most for the rest of that season. However, Kittle returned after just five weeks, and played in San Francisco's final two games, racking up 160 yards on 14 catches.

San Francisco had already been eliminated from playoff contention at 5-9 at the time of Kittle's return. Still, he probably made some fantasy owners very happy in the championship weekends of the fantasy season.

Kittle told GQ that he attributed stem cells for his ability to return ahead of schedule.

"I go to a place down in Panama, the Stem Cell Institute. I’ve been down there for three years now," Kittle said. "Teammates got me on it, and I’ve gone down there with a bunch of players. I’m not going to say it can fix anything, but if I’m getting stem cells, it’s helping me somehow. There’s no way it’s not doing anything."

Kittle added that he uses stem cells as a "pre-hab" rather than a rehab, meaning he used stem cells ahead of the injury, which is why he was able to come back faster.

Stem cell therapy is used by NFL players as a regenerative procedure that aims to repair and restore function to tissues or organs that have been damaged. However, it's not proven to be effective all the time.

Kittle is not the first NFL player to use stem cells to return from injury. In 2014, former New York Jets running back Chris Johnson had stem cells from his bone marrow reinjected into his knee to augment January surgery for a torn meniscus, according to Sports Illustrated.

Stem cell treatment is not permitted everywhere in the US, as several states have complete bans on stem cells. This has forced several NFL players seeking the use of stem cells to find treatment outside of the US.

Peyton Manning reportedly tried a stem-cell treatment in Europe in 2011, his final year with the Colts, to fast-track his recovery from neck surgery, according to NFL.com.