It looks like some of the San Francisco 49ers left it to their wives this week to share the maelstrom of emotions that came from their team winning the chance to play in the Super Bowl, then losing a close 25-22 game to the Kansas City Chiefs in the last minutes of overtime.
Kristin Juszczyk and Claire Kittle, who have become two of the 49ers most popular team wives, took to Instagram this week, with both saying they had felt “every emotion” during the season and during Sunday’s cliffhanger game.
Their husbands, Kyle Juszczyk and George Kittle, had to battle the Chiefs, while the world’s attention also was focused on the Chief’s famous booster, pop superstar Taylor Swift, who was there to cheer on her boyfriend, Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce.
“Every emotion humanly possible was felt on Sunday,” Kristin Juszczyk said on Instagram. After the “sadness and defeat” of Sunday, “we’re still trying to process how we feel to be honest,” she said.
Before praising her fullback husband as “Superman,” Kristin also said, “What we do know though is that in moments of sadness and defeat we are reminded how incredibly lucky we are to have the support system we have.” Family and friends, she said, “went on this incredible journey with us.”
Kristin then explained how she she holds Kyle up as a “role model,” telling him that his ability to wake up every day “with a smile on your face because you get to play football” has been her inspiration to go after her “dream.”
As has become well known, Kristin’s dream pertains to her new skyrocketing career as a fashion designer. Over the season, she gained a growing following for creating stylish, 49er-themed game-day outfits, using repurposed sports jerseys, jackets and other NFL merchandise. After getting Taylor Swift to wear a custom-designed Chiefs-red puffer jacket, which paid tribute to Kelce’s no. 87, Kristin landed a licensing deal with the NFL to use its logos to produce her fashions commercially.
“I don’t think the word ‘proud’ or truly any word can fully encapsulates what it feels like to be your wife and partner in this life,” Kristin said to her husband. “I’ll stand by you always and forever. @49ers will always be the best team in the world in our eyes.”
Meanwhile, Claire Kittle admitted that she had become more “emotional, week to week, game to game” than she had ever felt in her “whole life.” Addressing her tight end husband as “G” on Instagram, Claire said she has felt of mix of things since Sunday, including “thankful, happy, sad, upset, excited, appreciative and disappointed but not discouraged!!!”
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Since Sunday, she said, “we’ve allowed ourselves to fully feel and let our emotions flow and I’m reflecting on that now. There are valleys and there are peaks and this Super Bowl was a combination of the two & that’s okay.”
These testimonials from Kristin Juszczyk and Claire Kittle brought appreciative but concise responses from their husbands. Kyle Juszczyk replied to his wife’s post with a heart emoji, writing, “Delayed not denied. We’ll be back and I know I’ll have you right by my side.”
Below Claire Kittle’s post, Olivia Culpo, the fiancee of running back Christian McCaffrey, responded, “Brb crying. This is so sweet.” Kristin Juszczyk also wrote to Claire, “Disappointed but not discouraged. I love you both so much!
George Kittle posted a separate tribute to his wife to wish her happy Valentine’s Day. He shared a photo of the two embracing at the Super Bowl, with the caption: “Happy Valentines Day Claire Bear. These moments with you mean the world to me! Thank you for all of your effort to be with me week in and week out, city after city. So much love! Looking forward to many more!”