SAN FRANCISCO — Carolina Panthers fans are coming to terms with the fact that CMC is heading to the Bay. The Panthers traded star running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday in exchange for draft picks.
What you might not know is that McCaffrey has a few ties to the Bay area already.
Kyle Shanahan is the head coach of the 49ers, and the McCaffrey and Shanahan family trees go back to 1994 -- when Christian's father Ed McCaffrey and Kyle's father Mike Shanahan were both part of the San Francisco 49ers organization.
- Christian McCaffrey's dad, Ed, played for the 49ers.
- Ed McCaffrey played under Mike Shanahan, who was the offensive coordinator for the 49ers when he was there.
- Kyle Shanahan, Mike's son, is now the head coach of the 49ers and will coach Ed's son Christian.
Ed McCaffrey and Mike Shanahan spent 10 years together, moving from San Francisco to Denver after that 1994 season.
In 2020, Ed McCaffrey tweeted this old photo of him in his 49ers jersey.
They would win two Super Bowls together in 1997 and 1998 with the Broncos.
Ed McCaffrey is the player Kyle Shanahan looked up to, even wearing his number, 87, when he played college football at Texas in the early 2000s.
Back in 2017, before the Panthers played the 49ers in McCaffrey's rookie year, a story came out that Kyle Shanahan, a Broncos ball boy, babysat Christian occasionally. Kyle Shanahan confirmed that story but also acknowledged he probably put most of the responsibilities on his sister.
Now, McCaffrey returns to the Bay area to play for the same team that is responsible for the close bond between these two families and to play for the son of his father's coach.