Most notably, when the 49ers take the field in Las Vegas, running back Christian McCaffrey will be at the forefront of the team's run game. He’s already won the Fed Ex Ground Player of the Year Award for his over 2,000 scrimmage yards and fourteen touchdowns, and just snagged the league’s Offensive Player of the Year Award on February 8.
McCaffrey is the son of Ed McCaffrey, the longtime Broncos wide receiver who won two Super Bowls with the Denver team and another with the 49ers. Christian graduated from Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch in 2014 before going to Stanford University, where his father and mother both attended college.
“It is very surreal to see what he's doing, but I’m not surprised by it,” says Rex Rolf, who was the running back's coach at Valor. “I'm still a little bit in awe of what he's been able to do, and extremely proud of him.”
Rolf coached all four McCaffrey brothers in their time at Valor, developing a bond with the entire family. “Behind the scenes, they’re a very down-to-earth family,” he says. “I give Lisa and Ed credit, because they obviously had some family structure, raised the kids right.”
Lisa was a star soccer player at Stanford and her father, David Sime, was an Olympic sprinter in the 1960s, so both parents gifted their sons with natural athletic ability. But according to Rolf, Christian’s success is also based on the work he’s done to make the most of his talent.
“He was the hardest-working kid that I think I've ever coached,” Rolf says. “He's done everything possible to get the fullest extent out of the gifts that God gave him. Nothing came easy, because he worked hard.”
But Christian McCaffrey isn’t all hard work and no play. Rolf saw him socialize with his high school friends (Christian keeps in touch with some) and also head to Valor's music department during his free time to play the piano. Christian showcased those particular talents at Red Rocks last June, when he joined Zach Bryan on stage for a piano solo during “Revival.”
Rolf’s primary work is as a leadership coach; he also owns sports streaming company fanview.tv. Coaching at Valor has been his volunteer gig for the last seventeen years, and as a coach, Rolf says Christian is a great person to point to when he needs an example for his current students.
“He gives every reason for a kid to want to be like Christian athletically and personally,” says Rolf, who still texts with Christian occasionally.
Christian McCaffrey isn’t the only athlete with Colorado ties who's going to the Super Bowl. Isaiah Oliver, a University of Colorado graduate, will play defensive back for the 49ers, and Randy Gregory — who spent the first part of this season with the Broncos — will also check in on defense for San Francisco. On the Kansas City side of the ball, Montrell Washington is on the team, though he hasn’t played much this season after being drafted and then waived by the Broncos last year.
The coaching staffs of both teams are filled with Colorado connections, starting from the top with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, son of former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan — who coached Ed McCaffrey while he was on the Broncos.
Kyle went to Cherry Creek High School when Mike Shanahan began coaching the Broncos, and current Cherry Creek Athletics Director Jason Wilkins says having him coach in the Super Bowl is “awesome.” Karl Dorrell, CU’s head coach before Deion Sanders took the reins, gave Kyle Shanahan his first coaching job at UCLA.
Ed McCaffrey alongside Governor John Hickenlooper at the February 2016 celebration of the Broncos' victory in Super Bowl 50.
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Another CSU graduate, Brian Schneider, is the 49ers' Special Teams Coordinator. Brian Griese — who was on Mike Shanahan’s 1998 Broncos Super Bowl-winning team — heads up San Francisco's quarterback coaching. The running backs coach, who has worked closely with Christian McCaffrey, is Anthony Lynn — who won those two Shanahan Super Bowls with Ed McCaffrey.
And closing the circle is 49ers General Manager John Lynch, who played for the Broncos in the early 2000s and hired Kyle Shanahan as the 49ers' head coach in 2017.
In contrast, the Chiefs have just one Colorado coach: wide receivers coach Connor Embree, who was born in Superior and whose father, Jon Embree, was the head coach at CU for two seasons. Connor played there in college after graduating from Cherry Creek High School.
Since the Broncos themselves couldn't make it, the 49ers are about the most Colorado team that could be playing in the big game.
Rolf hopes his next text to Christian McCaffrey will be a congratulatory note for winning the Super Bowl.
