49ers superstar’s father says no athlete invests more money in staying healthy

Ed McCaffrey, the father of 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey, thinks his son is spending more than anyone on his health.

The San Francisco 49ers are hopeful that superstar running back Christian McCaffrey will be able to return to the field soon. However, reports suggest that the status of the former Stanford Cardinal remains an ongoing question. While McCaffrey is coming off an incredible season, there are reasons for concerns about the long-term health of a running back in his late 20s (McCaffrey turned 28 in June) with a long track record of heavy usage.

McCaffrey’s father, former NFL wideout Ed McCaffrey, was asked about his son’s status in an interview with former NFL offensive lineman turned analyst Ross Tucker on The Ross Tucker Podcast. McCaffrey shared an interesting angle on his son’s health: how much his son invests in building a team around him.

“Those are, by the way, doctors decisions,” Ed McCaffrey said. “He doesn’t decide. He’s like, ‘I’ll go if you want me to go.’ They watch him run and workout and are like ‘You know what? This doesn’t make sense. You’re injured. Let’s wait till this thing settles down.’ And the only treatment is rest, which is so frustrating. I will say this, Ross, and I feel comfortable saying this: there is no player on the planet in any sport that pays as much money to have people help take care of his body as Christian does. Anybody in any sport on the planet. So, obviously, he’s frustrated that he can’t play. He loves his teammates. Football is his life. He wants to be out on the field.”

This is far from the first time in McCaffrey’s career that questions about his long-term health have swirled. The only real knock on McCaffrey as a prospect coming out of college was a question about his durability as a 5’11-210 lbs. back who had just led the NCAA in carries for back-to-back seasons. Injuries in 2020 and 2021 with the Panthers led those questions to return and were part of the reason the Niners were able to acquire him at the 2022 deadline without parting with a first-round pick.

The Niners have not been able to jump out to a fast start this season. McCaffrey’s absence is surely a key component of that. With that said, they have been able to tread water at 2-2 and still have a fairly straightforward path to contention if their healthy players play up to their capabilities. If the 49ers are able to right the ship, a late-season return from McCaffrey could be just the injection of energy they’ll need to finally end up victorious on a Super Bowl run.

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