All about Christian McCaffrey, 49ers running back leading San Francisco in Super Bowl LVIII
The San Francisco 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in a heartbreaking overtime Super Bowl thriller Sunday night, 25-22.
The back-and-forth defensive battle found the two teams tied at 19 at the end of regulation after late field goals. The 49ers were forced to settle for a field goal in their first OT possession, giving the Chiefs the chance to become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champion in two decades.
More information on Super Bowl LVIII is available on live blogs being updated throughout the game at both CBS News and CBS Sports.
In Super Bowl LVIII, one of the marquee players to watch is 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, voted the 2023 Offensive Player of the Year on Thursday at the annual NFL Honors.
What are Christian McCaffrey's stats for this NFL season?
In his 2nd season with the 49ers in 2023, McCaffrey led the league in rushing yards (1,459), touches (339), yards from scrimmage (2,023), and touchdowns, with 14 rushing TDs and 7 receiving TDs. He also had 564 yards receiving.
McCaffrey's 1,459 rushing yards in 2023 were a career-best, as were his yards per rushing attempt (5.4) and receiving TDs (7).
In two postseason games, McCaffrey has rushed for 188 yards and 4 touchdowns.
During the 49ers first drive of the Super Bowl, McCaffrey suffered a rare fumble. He only fumbled three times during the entire regular season, despite having 272 carries and 67 receptions for the year.
What are Christian McCaffrey's career stats?
Over his seven-year NFL career with the Carolina Panthers and the 49ers, McCaffrey holds numerous NFL, Panthers and 49ers franchise records and has a growing number of league awards. Aside from his 2023 Offensive Player of the Year award, McCaffrey is a two-time First Team All-Pro, a Second Team All-Pro, and a three-time Pro Bowl selection.
Christian McCaffrey career stats - CBS Sports
Among the NFL records McCaffrey holds are:
- Most receptions by a running back in a single season
- Only running back to have two seasons with 100 or more receptions
- First player in NFL history to record more than 1,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in the first 10 games of a season
- First player in NFL history with 50 rushing and 50 receiving yards in five consecutive games
- Third most scrimmage yards in a single season in NFL history
- Only the third player in NFL history to record over 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in a single season
Among McCaffrey's Panthers franchise records are most receptions in a single season (116), most scrimmage yards in a single season (2,392), and single-season records for most receiving yards by a running back (1,005) and most receiving touchdowns by a running back (6).
In 2023 49ers, McCaffrey set 49ers franchise records for most consecutive games with a touchdown (17), and most rushing touchdowns in a season. (14).
When did Christian McCaffrey join the 49ers?
Carolina selected McCaffrey with the eighth overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He made his NFL debut in the 2017 season opener against the 49ers where head coach Kyle Shanahan was also making his coaching debut for San Francisco.
McCaffrey played five seasons with the Panthers and part of a sixth season before he was traded to the 49ers after the sixth game of the 2022 season on October 20, 2022. In exchange for the All-Pro running back, the 49ers gave Carolina a second, third, and fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and a fifth-round pick in the 2024 draft.
McCaffrey's acquisition paid immediate dividends for the 49ers, and he was instrumental in helping lead San Francisco to the NFC title game in 2022 and to the Super Bowl following the 2023 season.
Where did Christian McCaffrey go to college?
McCaffrey played football at Stanford University and in 2014 as a sophomore in 2015, he was named AP College Football Player of the Year. That same year he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, losing out to Alamaba running back Derrick Henry. McCaffrey currently holds the NCAA single-season record for all-purpose yards.
In 2015, McCaffrey was also named a consensus All-American and the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year. He is a two-time First-team All-Pac-12 (2015, 2016). His breakout 2015 season also saw him become the first Stanford Cardinal to rush for 2,000 yards in a single season and set other Stanford records including single-game rushing yards (243) and all-purpose yards (461).
Following the 2016 season, McCaffrey announced he would skip his senior year at Stanford and enter the 2017 NFL Draft.
What are Christian McCaffrey's contract details?
In 2020, McCaffrey signed a 4-year, $64 million contract with the Carolina Panthers which included a $21.5 million signing bonus, $38 million guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $16 million, according to SporTrac. The 49ers reportedly restructured the contract to convert some of his salary into a bonus, and in 2024 McCaffrey will earn a base salary of $11.8 million and a workout bonus of $200,000, while carrying a cap hit of $14.1 million and a dead cap value of $8.6 million.
Who is Christian McCaffrey's fiancée, Olivia Culpo?
Olivia Culpo is a former Miss Universe and current model, actress and social media influencer. She and McCaffrey met in 2019 after the two were set up by mutual friends, according to one of her Instagram posts in 2022 celebrating their three-year dating anniversary.
Culpo was born in Rhode Island, the middle child of five siblings, to parents Susan and Peter Culpo. She attended St. Mary Academy-Bayview and Boston University and is an accomplished cello player, which she began playing in the second grade. Culpo is also co-owner of a restaurant with her family in Rhode Island.
On April 2, 2023, McCaffrey popped the question to Culpo while on vacation in Utah.
What do we know about Christian McCaffrey's family?
Born in Castle Rock, Colorado on June 7, 1996, McCaffrey is the son of former Stanford and NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey and former Stanford soccer player Lisa McCaffrey. He is the second of four sons, along with older brother Max, and younger brothers Dylan and Luke.
Each of McCaffrey's brothers has been a standout football player - Max played college at Duke University and was on the roster of several NFL teams, including the 49ers, between 2016 and 2019. Dylan has played quarterback for Michigan and last played for Northern Colorado where his father was coaching in 2022. The youngest, Luke, played quarterback at Nebraska and after a brief transfer to Louisville, he ultimately ended up at Rice from 2021 to 2023, where he also played wide receiver.
Ed McCaffrey won a Super Bowl with the 49ers in the 1994 season and won two more titles in Denver with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan's father, Mike, as his head coach. The Shanahan and the McCaffrey families became close friends during their time in Denver and it is believed that Kyle Shanahan at times babysat for Christian McCaffrey, years before they would reunite on the 49ers as head coach and player.