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Christian McCaffrey does a lot for the San Francisco 49ers. The only player in franchise history who ever caught, threw, and rushed for a touchdown in the same game, McCaffrey finished out the 2022 season with 1,210 all-purpose yards, amassing 746 yards as a rusher while picking up 464 more as a receiver.
But just because McCaffrey is one of the hardest players to bring down in the NFL doesn’t mean some, like comedian Bert Kreischer, wouldn’t pay good money to give it a try off of the gridiron, especially if some adult beverages are involved.
Sitting down for an interview with Rich Eisen on his namesake show to promote the release of his new movie, “The Machine,” Kreischer explained how, after running into McCaffrey at a party, he tried to wager $10,000 that he could “catch” McCaffrey in a sort of inebriated, non-lethal version of “The Most Dangerous Game.”
“I got real drunk and cornered Christian McCaffrey,” Kreischer said. “And I was drunk and I go ‘hey gosh, do you think I could catch you?’ And he goes ‘what?’ And I said, ‘in this room, $10,000 if I can catch you.’ And he was like ‘what are you walking about?’ And I said, ‘just in this room,’ it’s like, you know, 20 by 30 by 30.
“I said ‘give me 20 minutes, do you think I’d ever catch you? Catch you and hold you down?’ And he’s like ‘hey man, there’re dudes that are 10 times more athletic than you who train all year and can’t catch me.’ He goes ‘ I don’t think you can catch me.’ And I go, ‘You wanna try?’ Like what kind of party is this turning into?”
Fortunately for all parties involved, Kreischer did not end up attempting to hunt McCaffrey, with both men instead leaving the party with a story they can share for years to come.
McCaffrey Celebrates the San Francisco 49ers’ Rookie QB
Stopping by NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” to discuss the offseason so far, McCaffrey was asked about playing with Brock Purdy, who burst onto the scene in a big way as the final pick in the 2022 NFL draft. Despite having a healthy skepticism for playing with rookie quarterbacks, McCaffrey felt as though Purdy far exceeded his expectations.
“Brock was an exception to the rule that I had,” McCaffrey said via 49ers WebZone. “I was always skeptical of rookie quarterbacks, but I know there have been some great ones. And he came in right away, and he’s exactly what you would have wanted.”
Asked what about Purdy’s game stood out, McCaffrey identified not only his grasp of the playbook but also the intangibles required to be a good leader of men.
“He had poise. He had confidence. He [commanded] the huddle,” McCaffrey continued. “He did his job, and he made plays beyond the X’s and O’s. And that’s really all you want in a quarterback.
“We had a lot of good weapons around him that he did such a good job utilizing. And obviously, we saw what he did on the field, but off the field, too, he’s such an impressive guy. He’s a guy you can rely on. He’s a great locker room guy, a good dude, and I had a lot of fun playing with him.”
Christian McCaffrey Clarifies His Trade Comments
Elsewhere in his appearance on “Good Morning Football,” McCaffrey was afforded a chance to clarify his comments on being traded from the Carolina Panthers to San Francisco, which he initially described as “the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I was thrown to the fire pretty quickly,” McCaffrey said via NFL.com. “I think early on in practice when I was in the huddle with George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Trent Williams, Brandon Aiyuk, Kyle Juszczyk and all these guys, I felt like I was on a Pro Bowl roster. It hit me that this was a special team.
“I was very fortunate to come into a team that built a culture and had taken time to build a culture. To add on top of the roster, in my opinion, some of the best coaches in the NFL and guys who know how to use players like myself and have been doing it for so long. I just felt very fortunate to be a part of something that was already so developed so to say and like I said a culture that was established.
“I do want to make it clear that was nothing against Carolina when I said that. I have no bad blood, and I love everybody there. I still keep in touch with a lot of my teammates there and a lot of the coaches who I had the privilege of playing for there.”
Regardless of whether or not McCaffrey needed to apologize for his comments, Panthers fans appear to have appreciated it nonetheless, as the Stanford product was arguably the face of the franchise in the post-Cam Newton era.