LAS VEGAS — First-team All Pro? Check.
Pro Bowl? Check.
NFL 2023 rushing king? Check.
Christian McCaffrey has won them all. You name it, the 49ers’ stud running back has it on his résumé.
He is the highest-paid running back in league history and no one disputes that he is the best player in the world at his position.
There is nothing remotely negative about any of this.
Praise and acclaim are the by-product of a job well done.
Yet all this is not enough for McCaffrey.
“The one thing this week has taught me, the individual awards and all the individual accolades you get are great but there’s nothing bigger than the Super Bowl,’’ McCaffrey said. “That’s very true. I realized that when they announced the All-Pro, Pro Bowl and all those things. I’m extremely grateful for those and I don’t take them lightly and I don’t take them for granted, but to have an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl is the biggest thing on the planet. It’s what this whole game is all about.’’
McCaffrey has done it all but he has never before done this.
He never got close to a Super Bowl with the Panthers, playing in only one playoff game in five-plus seasons.
Last year, McCaffrey and the 49ers fell one game short, as Brock Purdy hurt his throwing elbow in the NFC Championship game and the Niners were routed by the Eagles.
McCaffrey said he and his teammates “had a really salty feeling’’ about the way that game went down and were determined to not fall short again.
They face the Chiefs on Sunday in Super Bowl LVIII, and McCaffrey is one victory away from an achievement that will mean more to him than all the individual honors he already has claimed.
McCaffrey understands that his greatness is augmented by everything he has around him in one of the NFL’s most versatile and creative offenses.
He had to carry far too much of the load in Carolina and at times he was nearly a one-man band.
He caught 107 passes in his second season and 116 in his third. In 2019, he rushed for 1,387 yards and 15 touchdowns.
What good did all that production do?
The Panthers finished 5-11 and McCaffrey’s brilliance could not prevent Ron Rivera from getting fired after 12 games.
This season, McCaffrey led the NFL with 1,459 rushing yards and he scored 21 total touchdowns.
In two playoff games, he has 188 rushing yards and four touchdowns. What good did all that production do?
The 49ers went 12-5 and are still playing.
“I’m able to do that because of the guys around me and because you have a sophisticated mind calling plays,’’ McCaffrey said, referring to head coach Kyle Shanahan. “Football’s the biggest team game on the planet, one guy can’t do anything without all 10 other guys. That’s why this is a special team. You have All-Pros all over the field, you’ve got arguably the best mind in football I’ve seen.’’
McCaffrey, an uncanny threat as a pass receiver, is the leader of a band that has plenty of frontmen. George Kittle is one of the best tight ends in the league.
Deebo Samuel is one of the most versatile and hard-to-tackle wide receivers and Brandon Aiyuk is one of the most physical.
Trent Williams for years has been recognized as the best left tackle in the game and Shanahan as a play-caller and schemer of offenses is one of the best in the business.
And there is Kyle Juszczyk, the league’s premier fullback, busting open holes for McCaffrey and others.
“The biggest thing is selflessness,’’ McCaffrey said. “You’ve got guys who are willing to play without the ball and that’s such an important aspect of football, It’s not just stats. Stats obviously are one way to look at somebody’s skill and somebody’s production but it’s not everything. When you look at the silent tape and you don’t look at the numbers the tape doesn’t lie.
“When you look at our tape and you see Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo blocking 60 yards down the field for me and you see a guy like [guard Aaron] Banks, who’s running down the field on every single play, helping me up or helping whoever carried the ball up and you see Ray-Ray [McCloud] blocking downfield, you see all these different guys who are just doing the extra work that they might not get credit for but I think that’s what makes a talented team special, is the ability to come together and be selfless.’’
McCaffrey reaps all these benefits. He is a star on his own but shining more brightly now because of all he has around him.
