49ers’ George Kittle bemoans NFL’s new ban of smelling salts

Nick WagonerAug 5, 2025, 06:08 PM ET

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Nick Wagoner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has lined the San Francisco 49ers since 2016, having beforehand lined the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, together with three years (2013 to 2015) at ESPN. In over a decade with the corporate, Nick has led ESPN’s protection of the Niners’ 2019 and 2023 Tremendous Bowl run, Colin Kaepernick’s protest, the Rams making Michael Sam the primary brazenly homosexual participant drafted to the NFL, Sam’s subsequent pursuit of a roster spot and the staff’s relocation and stadium saga.

Kittle crashed the set to “air a grievance” that the league knowledgeable groups on Tuesday morning through a memo that it has prohibited the usage of ammonia and smelling salts earlier than and through all NFL video games.

Based on the memo, starting this season, groups are prohibited from “providing or supplying ammonia in any form.” That features ammonia capsules, inhalers, ammonia in a cup and any type of “smelling salts.” It applies to everything of a sport, together with pregame actions and halftime, and applies within the locker room and on the sideline.

San Francisco 49ers tight finish George Kittle sniffs smelling salts throughout a sport towards the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Financial institution Discipline in 2021. Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports activities

The memo says the ban comes on account of FDA warnings that had been issued in 2024.

“In 2024, the FDA issued a warning to companies that produce commercially available ammonia inhalants (AIs), as well as to consumers about the purchase and use of AIs, regarding the lack of evidence supporting the safety or efficacy of AIs marketed for improving mental alertness or boosting energy,” the memo says. “The FDA famous potential unfavorable results from AI use. AIs even have the potential to masks sure neurological indicators and signs, together with some potential indicators of concussion.

“As a result, the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee recommended prohibiting the use of AIs for any purpose during NFL play.”

A number of hours after that memo was acquired in San Francisco, Kittle popped into an NFL Community set on the staff’s facility whereas Warner was speaking concerning the upcoming season.

“I honestly just came up here to air a grievance,” Kittle stated. “Our team got a memo today that smelling salts and ammonia packets were made illegal in the NFL, and I’ve been distraught all day.”

Kittle went on to say that he’s a daily consumer of smelling salts, taking them for a lift of power earlier than each offensive drive, noting, “I miss those already.”

The ninth-year tight finish went on to joke that the memo was upsetting sufficient for him to consider calling it a profession.

“I considered retirement,” Kittle stated, jokingly. “We have got to figure out a middle ground here, guys. Somebody help me out. Somebody come up with a good idea. That’s all I had to get out there. Get that off my chest.”