Christian McCaffrey is one of the best running backs in the NFL, playing for the San Francisco 49ers. He is also part of a famous football family, with his father and brothers all having played or coached the sport at various levels. But who are Christian McCaffrey’s relatives, and how are they connected to the game? Here is a brief overview of the McCaffrey family tree.
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Ed McCaffrey: The father
Ed McCaffrey is Christian McCaffrey’s father. He also has three other sons, all of whom have played football. Ed currently coaches at Northern Colorado, where he has been in charge since 2020.
Ed was a star wide receiver at Stanford before a 13-year NFL career with the Giants, 49ers and Broncos. He was a role player with San Francisco during a Super Bowl run in 1994, but his career took off with Denver from 1996-2003. He had three 1,000-yard seasons and helped the Broncos win two Super Bowls. McCaffrey retired with 565 catches for 7,422 yards and 55 TDs.
Lisa McCaffrey: The mother
Lisa McCaffrey is Christian McCaffrey’s mother. She was a star soccer player at Stanford when she met Ed. She was a three-year letter-winner from 1987-89 and a teammate of Julie Foudy. Stanford was 28-19-9 in those three seasons and beginning its ascent to a national powerhouse.
Lisa has been supportive of her sons’ football careers, often attending their games and cheering them on. She also runs a foundation called Dare to Play Football Camp, which provides opportunities for children with Down syndrome to play football with NFL players and coaches.
max McCaffrey: The oldest brother
Max McCaffrey is Christian McCaffrey’s oldest brother. He is 26 years old and currently works as the receivers coach at Northern Colorado under his father.
Max played receiver at Duke from 2012-15, where he piled up 117 catches for 1,341 yards and 12 TDs for his career. McCaffrey was a two-time Academic All-American with the Blue Devils. He bounced around five different practice squads in the NFL, but never appeared in a regular-season game.
Christian McCaffrey: The star brother
Christian McCaffrey is the second among the four sons of Ed and Lisa McCaffrey. He is 24 years old and plays for the San Francisco 49ers as a running back.
Christian enjoyed a brilliant three-year career at Stanford from 2014-16. He finished with 5,128 yards from scrimmage and finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 2015. He holds the NCAA record for most all-purpose yards in a season, with 3,864. McCaffrey holds numerous NFL and Panthers franchise records and is one of three players ever to record 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in the same season, doing so in 2019.
Dylan McCaffrey: The transfer brother
Dylan McCaffrey is Christian McCaffrey’s third brother. He is 21 years old and recently transferred from Michigan to Northern Colorado, where he will play quarterback for his father.
Dylan spent the last three seasons at Michigan before opting out of the 2020 season announcing he would transfer. Dylan was a backup quarterback the last two seasons. He finished with 242 passing yards and 166 rushing yards while accounting for five total TDs.
Luke McCaffrey: The youngest brother
Luke McCaffrey is Christian McCaffrey’s youngest brother. He is 19 years old and plays quarterback for Nebraska.
Luke is a redshirt freshman for the Huskers. He split time with Adrian Martinez in Nebraska’s season-opening loss to the Buckeyes and figures to be a multi-purpose option for the next few years in Scott Frost’s offense.
Other McCaffrey family athletes
The McCaffrey family tree is loaded with other star athletes across several sports:
– Christian’s grandfather Dave Sime was an Olympic silver medalist in track and field in 1960.
– Christian’s uncle Billy McCaffrey played basketball at Duke and Vanderbilt.
– Christian’s aunt Monica (McCaffrey) Honegger played soccer at Georgetown.
– Christian’s cousin Gabriel Rivas played soccer at Duke.
– Christian’s cousin Michael Rivas played soccer at Wake Forest.
