Christian McCaffrey’s 2023 season is off to an expectedly explosive start. The San Francisco 49ers‘ star running back has eclipsed 100 rushing yards and found paydirt in each of the team’s first two games. His contributions are a large part of why San Fran is 2-0.
McCaffrey’s been with the Niners for a little less than a year now, getting traded to the team from the Carolina Panthers in October last season. It’s proven to be a lucrative union for both sides thus far.
But it’s not McCaffrey’s longest active partnership. That honor belongs instead to his fiancée, Olivia Culpo. You might already have some familiarity with Culpo — she was a well-known name long before she linked up with McCaffrey.
Who Is Olivia Culpo? How Did She and Christian McCaffrey Meet?
Culpo first rose to fame back in June of 2012 with her victory in the Miss USA pageant. Her pageantry success continued with a victory in the Miss Universe pageant before the calendar year wrapped up.
McCaffrey was just a teenager at the time, still a few years away from starring at Stanford University. But, much like Culpo, he too was poised to see his name up in lights.
Never Forget how explosive Christian McCaffrey was at Stanford 🥶🥶 pic.twitter.com/VgVBX291po
— Footballism (@FootbaIIism) December 26, 2022
McCaffrey became a household name midway through his 2015 season at Stanford, at least in football-loving homes. The second-generation baller racked up a mind-boggling 3,864 total yards and 15 touchdowns in a 12-2, Rose Bowl-winning campaign for the Cardinals.
After posting comparable production the next year, McCaffrey entered the 2017 NFL draft, where the Panthers made him the eighth overall pick.
His subsequent rise to stardom has been chronicled many times over, but the headline is he’s emerged as one of the best dual-threat running backs the league has ever seen.
Similarly, Culpo’s success in pageantry opened up more opportunities for her to prove her own dual-threat capabilities. She wound up pursuing modeling work, notably appearing on the cover of the 2020 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Culpo also has a few acting credits on her résumé as well.
Rumors started surfacing in 2019 about Former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo and NFL hunk Christian McCaffrey after he liked her picture on Instagram. Just a few months later, they were photographed vacationing together in Mexico. pic.twitter.com/YaV0p8jloe
— SPORTS(ish) (@thesportsish) January 23, 2023
McCaffrey and Culpo’s courtship began innocuously enough. The star runner reportedly liked a photo of hers on Instagram, per this Sportskeeda piece. The interest was evidently mutual, and the two were seen jet-setting about in exotic locales soon thereafter.
MORE: PFN Life — Off-the-Field Content
It didn’t take long for the two young moguls to become an item. They’d regularly share messages of support for one another on their respective social media platforms. And they were seen attending public events, like the NFL Honors, together.
Olivia Culpo and Christian McCaffrey are now engaged, TMZ reports. pic.twitter.com/7h4sMlpoOV
— Pop Base (@PopBase) April 7, 2023
As the linked piece above mentions, the two were engaged to be wed in April of this year.
No ironclad wedding date is available online, though Culpo told E! News that due to her other half’s scheduling constraints, it’d likely be after football season. She also said she’s received an outpouring of support from Niners fans.
“I never thought that it would be any different,” she told E! News. “I never thought anybody would treat me any differently or anything would be any sort of way. But it is actually kind of funny how everybody there — because they’re just such big fans of the team — everybody wanted to see my ring or say hi and congratulate us. It’s really, really sweet. The 49ers have such a great fanbase.”
Of course, McCaffrey’s hoping that his wedding ring is one of two rings he’ll be sporting by the time his wedding day comes around.