The past three NFL seasons have been a rapid turn of events for Christian McCaffrey, but his short time with the 49ers already has proven what he’s known all along.
As McCaffrey prepares for his first playoff run since his rookie year in 2017, the star running back reflected on his journey and explained what winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year would mean to him after all the adversity he has faced.
“It was something that I had thought about, for sure," McCaffrey told NBC Sports Bay Area’s 49ers insider Matt Maiocco on “49ers Talk.” "I went through a lot of hard days in the last two years. Football is my favorite thing in the world to do. It’s kind of how I’ve identified myself in a lot of ways.
“So yeah, definitely being Comeback Player of the Year was something in the back of my head. But you can’t do that without perfecting your job, doing your job and going out and executing. So you can have these big goals that when you really think about it, it’s, 'How do you get to those goals?', it’s all the same on the 'How.' So I really just focused on the how and here I am, take it one day at a time and do the absolute best you can."
Two seasons ago, McCaffrey played in three games with the Carolina Panthers after sustaining a trio of injuries. The following year, he missed five games with a hamstring strain, sprained his ankle in Week 12, and missed the rest of the season.
“Taking a step back and not being able to play was good for me in a character sense," McCaffrey said. "It was really good for me as a man off the field and understanding life and having a different perspective. But it is what I love to do the most and when that’s taken from you, it hurt.”
After spending five seasons with the Panthers -- who drafted him No. 8 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft -- McCaffrey was traded to the 49ers in the middle of the 2022 NFL season and began a new journey with a clean slate. Or so he thought.
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The “injury” tag continued to stick with him as critics grew worried if the star running back could stay healthy and live up to his true potential with Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers. He let his game do the talking.
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McCaffrey’s impact on the 49ers’ offense was almost immediate. Since his arrival to the Bay on Oct. 21, the 49ers lost the first game -- that was played two days after his arrival -- and then went on to win the next 10.
The 26-year-old played a crucial role in turning San Francisco's season around as the 49ers finished 13-4 and atop the NFC West.
McCaffrey was able to flip the page and stay focused and it's paying off for both him and the 49ers.
And he's nowhere near done yet.