Christian McCaffrey

Christian Jackson McCaffrey (born June 7, 1996) is an American football running back and return specialist for the Stanford Cardinal. In his sophomore season in 2015, he was the AP College Football Player of the Year and the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. He holds the NCAA record for most all-purpose yards in a season with 3,864. He is the son of former Stanford and NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey and former Stanford soccer star Lisa McCaffrey, who is the daughter of U.S. Olympian Dave Sime.

Early years

McCaffrey attended Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. He played running back, wide receiver, cornerback and punter. He broke numerous Colorado high school records including career total touchdowns (141), career all purpose yards (8,845), career touchdown receptions (47) and single season all-purpose yards (3,032).^[1] He was the Gatorade Football Player of the Year for Colorado in both 2012 and 2013.^[2] He also played basketball.

McCaffrey was also a standout sprinter on the track & field team. As a junior in 2012, he placed second in the 100-meter dash at the Mountain Vista Boulder Invitational with a career-best time of 10.75 seconds.^[3] As a senior in 2013, he finished sixth in the 100-meter dash (10.89s) and ninth in the 200-meter dash (22.17s) at the CHSAA State Meet.^[4]

One of the best one hundred football players in his national high school class, McCaffrey was selected as a 2014 U.S. Army All-American. McCaffrey was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the third best all-purpose back in his class and 77th best player overall.^[5] He committed to Stanford University to play college football.^[6][7]

College career

2014

McCaffrey played in all 13 games as a true freshman at Stanford in 2014. He finished the year with 300 rushing yards on 43 carries and 251 receiving yards on 17 receptions with two total touchdowns.^[8][9]

2015

McCaffrey had a breakout sophomore season in 2015.^[10][11] He broke Barry Sanders' NCAA record of 3,250 all-purpose yards, finishing with 3,864.^[12] He ranked second in the nation with 2,019 rushing yards,^[13] becoming the first Stanford player to rush for 2,000 in a season.^[14] He also set numerous other Stanford records during the season including rushing yards in a game (243)^[15] and all-purpose yards in a game (461).^[16]

McCaffrey was a consensus All-American and was the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, Pac-12 Player of the Year and Paul Hornung Award winner.^[17][18][19] He also finished second to Derrick Henry in the 2015 Heisman Trophy voting.^[20]

During the 2016 Rose Bowl, McCaffrey became the first player to rush for over 100 yards (172) and have over 100 yards receiving (109) in a Rose Bowl game. Overall he set a new Rose Bowl record with 368 all-purpose yards, breaking the previous record set in 2012 by Wisconsin’s Jared Abbrederis.^[21]

2016

Through the end of the 2016 regular season, McCaffrey is leading the nation in all purpose yards (211.6 yards per game). He is leading the Pac-12 in rushing yards (1,603) and ranks fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game (145.7). McCaffrey set a Stanford single-game rushing record with 284 rushing yards against Cal.

In 2016, McCaffrey was named to the All Pac-12 first team and was named the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year.

Personal

His father, Ed McCaffrey, played college football at Stanford and in the NFL (mostly for the Denver Broncos) from 1991 to 2003. His mother, Lisa Sime, played soccer at Stanford. His older brother, Max, played football at Duke University. His younger brother, Dylan, is the rated the #4 quarterback in the nation by 247sports.com and has committed to the University of Michigan.^[22][23] His uncle, Billy McCaffrey, played college basketball at Duke University and Vanderbilt University. His maternal grandfather is Dave Sime the ex-Olympian track star.^[24]

References

External links

• Stanford Cardinal bio