There are a lot of ways in which going, let alone winning, the Super Bowl is a special milestone, and for Christian McCaffrey, it's far more than just a career achievement.
The San Francisco 49ers running back, 27, is gearing up to face off against the Kansas City Chiefs for the 58th Super Bowl, less than two years after joining the team following his departure from the Carolina Panthers.
Now, not only is he a key role to the 49ers potential redemption win after their 2020 Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs, there's also a chance he'll make NFL history, along with his dad, former 49ers wide receiver Ed McCaffrey.
Should the 49ers win the Super Bowl, Christian and Ed would become only the second father-son duo to win the championship as part of the same team; only Steve and Zak DeOssie of the New York Giants have previously accomplished the feat.
Ed – who played for the Giants, 49ers, and Denver Broncos until his retirement in 2004 – won the Super Bowl three times, in 1995 with the 49ers and in 1998 and 1999 with the Broncos.
Speaking with People ahead of the big game, Ed said: "It feels incredible. I'm just so happy for him… The fact that he's in a Super Bowl is a pretty incredible feeling for us, and as a father, I love him. I support him."
He continued: "The fact that it's happening on the 49ers – the team that I was blessed to play for back in 1994 and won a Super Bowl with – is pretty amazing," adding: "And the fact that he's playing for Kyle Shanahan, the son of Mike Shanahan, who was my coach when the 49ers won the Super Bowl, is pretty cool."
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Christian also reflected on the strong and "surreal" ties between his experience in football and that of his dad's, separately telling The Athletic: "Not just with Kyle and Mike Shanahan. My dad played with (49ers QB coach) Brian Griese. He played with (49ers co-running backs coach) Anthony Lynn. A lot of [Gary] Kubiak connections. Bobby Turner was the running backs coach when my dad was in Denver."
He went on: "Even though I didn't grow up in San Francisco, it feels like home to me. All the names that are in our building are the same names that I remember my dad would say, and it's just the next generation of them. It is really cool to be able to go to work with all of those guys, knowing that we’re cut from the same cloth."
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Ed shares Christian with Lisa McCaffrey, his wife since 1992. The couple also share sons Max, 29, Dylan, 24, and Luke, 22, all of whom have also previously played football.
Lisa, who was with Ed for all three of his Super Bowl wins, admitted to The Athletic that she's "trying to stay calm" and "busy" to calm her nerves for the game, and explained: "I'm probably even more nervous this time because it's one of my kids."
And as for advice from a fellow Super Bowl champion, Ed simply told People: "My giving Christian advice about football ended a long time ago. So I would just say, 'I love you. Go get it.'"
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