Big things were expected out of running back Christian McCaffrey when the San Francisco 49ers sent a 2023 second-, third-, and fourth-round pick, along with a 2024 fifth-round selection, to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for him during the 2022 NFL season. Two years later, McCaffrey and his wife, Olivia Culpo, are one of the most popular couples around the facility.
The 49ers host a party before the regular season to celebrate the players who made the 53-man roster. Despite the awful news of rookie WR Ricky Pearsall getting shot in an attempted robbery, the team went on with the party after finding out he was in stable condition. With a Great Gatsby theme in place, McCaffrey and Culpo came to impress.
Olivia Culpo and Christian McCaffrey Stun at 49ers Party
Hosted at head coach Kyle Shanahan’s house, the 49ers’ roster had a ball with the theme, and McCaffrey and Culpo were no exception. In an Instagram post by the 2012 Miss USA and Miss Universe winner, Culpo wore a sleek white dress with the typical flapper headwear and a big feather boa of the 1920s.
McCaffrey, meanwhile, donned a shiny white, faintly pinstriped suit to the event, matching his wife’s elegance.
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The caption, a little playful jab at McCaffrey, shows that the running back has been in the league a bit longer than some remember, as Culpo jokes, “Year 8, old sport.”
The past two seasons with the 49ers have allowed McCaffrey to show his talent, earning Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2023. However, it took a couple of years of putting a mediocre team on his back to get there.
McCaffrey was drafted by the Panthers at No. 8 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. As part of Carolina’s last playoff run, him and Jonathan Taylor formed an RB committee, alongside quarterback Cam Newton’s rushing upside.
McCaffrey took over as Carolina’s lead in 2018 and proved a dangerous weapon in the rushing and passing game. But after struggling to be competitive over the course of a few seasons, the Panthers began to strip things down for a rebuild, and McCaffrey gave them the most assets in return.
After acclimating to his new offense in 2022, McCaffrey thrived in Shanahan’s system last season, rushing for a career-high 1,459 yards while scoring a career-high 21 total touchdowns.
While he did not surpass his mark of 1,005 receiving yards set in 2019, McCaffrey did surpass 2,000 scrimmage yards for the second time in his career. He hopes for another impressive season as the 49ers attempt to make another Super Bowl run.
On Tuesday, those aspirations got a boost.
The three-time Pro Bowler returned to practice after suffering a calf strain earlier in the preseason. While McCaffrey’s absence from practice was out of an abundance of caution, seeing him back on the field can let San Francisco fans breathe a sigh of relief ahead of the team’s Week 1 matchup against the New York Jets.
However, he wasn’t the only offensive player to return. After a very public back and forth, WR Brandon Aiyuk agreed to a contract extension with the 49ers. Additionally, veteran left tackle Trent Williams also got a new contract amid a holdout, although he was a bit quieter.
Getting Aiyuk back on the field ensures San Francisco’s top receiving threat can help create rushing and route space for McCaffrey. More importantly, getting Williams’ expertise and skill back on the line improves pass and rush blocking massively. While he may be 36 years old, Williams continues to be one of the best tackles in the game.
The 49ers seem to be running it back for the most part, with some slight changes here and there. However the meat and potatoes of this roster remain unchanged.
There’s no denying McCaffrey’s talents helped maintain the 49ers’ dominance. Will this finally be the season in which they hoist the Lombardi for the first time in Shanahan’s tenure?