Christian McCaffrey

Early life

McCaffrey was born in Castle Rock, Colorado, on June 7, 1996, the son of former Stanford and NFL wide receiver Ed McCaffrey and former Stanford soccer player Lisa McCaffrey. He attended Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado for his freshman year and then Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado under coach Brent Vieselmeyer for the rest of his high school career. 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). He was the Gatorade Football Player of the Year for Colorado in both 2012 and 2013. He also played basketball.

McCaffrey was also a standout sprinter on the track and field team. As a sophomore, he placed second in the 100-meter dash at the Mountain Vista Boulder Invitational with a wind-assisted (+6.2 m/s) career-best time of 10.75 seconds. As a junior 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.

Considered one of the best one hundred football players in his national high school class, he was selected as a 2014 U.S. Army All-American. He 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. He committed to Stanford University to play college football.

Freshman year

McCaffrey played in all 13 games as a true freshman for the Cardinal in 2014. He shared the backfield with Remound Wright, Barry J. Sanders, and Kelsey Young. In his collegiate debut, he had a 52-yard receiving touchdown against UC Davis. He finished the year with 300 rushing yards on 43 carries and 251 receiving yards on 17 receptions with two total touchdowns.

Sophomore year

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

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. He also finished second to Alabama's Derrick Henry in the 2015 Heisman Trophy voting.

He set the school record for all purpose yards in a single game in the Pac-12 Championship against USC with 461 total yards.

During the 2016 Rose Bowl against Iowa, 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.

Junior year

Through the end of the 2016 regular season, McCaffrey led the nation in all purpose yards (211.6 yards per game). He led the Pac-12 Conference in rushing yards (1,603) and ranked fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game (145.7). After being injured during the Cardinal's 42–16 loss to Washington State on October 8, McCaffrey sat out for the team's 17–10 victory in the 2016 edition of the Notre Dame-Stanford rivalry the following week. McCaffrey set a Stanford single-game rushing record with 284 rushing yards against California. McCaffrey was named to the 2016 All-Pac-12 first-team and was named the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year. After the season, he decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2017 NFL draft.

On December 19, McCaffrey announced he would not participate in the team's Sun Bowl game against North Carolina, opting to skip the game to prepare for the NFL draft. His decision was met with mixed reactions; supporters agreed it was a smart decision, while those opposing considered the move selfish, and potentially detrimental to college football should other players follow suit. Radio host Mike Greenberg, in defense of McCaffrey, said, "Calling Christian McCaffrey a quitter for skipping an exhibition game to prepare for his career is the height of just not getting it." By 2018, NFL draft prospects sitting out bowls had become much more common and caused little controversy among fans.

Personal life

McCaffrey's father, Ed McCaffrey, played college football at Stanford and in the NFL, primarily 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, and then on several NFL teams as a wide receiver. His younger brother, Dylan, was a quarterback at Northern Colorado. His youngest brother, Luke, is a wide receiver for the Washington Commanders. His uncle, Billy McCaffrey, played college basketball at Duke and Vanderbilt University. His maternal grandfather Dave Sime (1936–2016) was a pioneering ophthalmologist and an Olympic sprinter, the silver medalist (photo finish) in the 100 meters in 1960.

McCaffrey is Catholic. He has said, "My faith is very important to me and that's why I'm praying all the time. When you have a bunch of people chanting your name, it's important that you give the honor and glory back to the person, God, that's allowing me to do this." McCaffrey is a lifelong fan of Bruce Lee, having been introduced to Lee's films by his father and crediting Lee's philosophy with helping him mentally throughout his career.

McCaffrey has been in a relationship with Miss Universe 2012 Olivia Culpo since 2019. They announced their engagement on April 7, 2023. The two were married on June 29, 2024, in Watch Hill, Rhode Island. On March 10, 2025, McCaffrey and Culpo announced that they were expecting their first child. On July 13, 2025, they welcomed a daughter.

In 2018, McCaffrey appeared in a commercial for the NFL, along with Jay Ajayi, Todd Gurley, and DeAndre Hopkins.

In June 2024, McCaffrey was revealed as the cover athlete for Madden NFL 25, becoming the second 49er to grace the cover after Garrison Hearst in the PAL version of Madden NFL 99.