There were 13 players on the Denver Broncos’ 1997 and 1998 teams who earned either Pro Bowl or All-Pro honors on their way to winning Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII. The resume of quarterback John Elway, finishing his career with the rings that long eluded him, spoke for itself. All around him, there was talent up and down the roster: the offense featured star running back Terrell Davis and an offensive line featuring Tom Nalen, Tony Jones, and Mark Schlereth; on defense, safety Steve Atwater highlighted a unit that featured John Mobley and Neil Smith. Even the special teams unit was star-studded, with kicker Jason Elam and punt returner Darrien Gordon.
There was also one more All-Pro player scampering through the Mile High locker room. But back then, no one knew quite what the little rugrat at his father’s knee was going to become.
Long before his name was ever called by the Carolina Panthers in the NFL Draft, Christian McCaffrey’s football initiation came in the navy and blue of Denver. Born in June of 1996, McCaffrey came into the world just before the second of father Ed McCaffrey’s nine seasons in a Broncos uniform.
Joining the Broncos as a fifth-year pro who had flashed promise with the New York Giants and then won a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers, the elder McCaffrey would become a franchise great in a career that lasted until 2003 – when Christian was seven years old.
As his father won two Super Bowls, was a Pro Bowler and Second-Team All-Pro in 1998 while earning a place on the Broncos’ 50th Anniversary Team, little Christian’s formative years in football came as the witness to what went into a winning team.
“I think that was kind of when I started to see what football meant to me,” the younger McCaffrey said this week. “Just watching [my father], being able to run around on the field after the game and seeing them win two Super Bowls, even when I was two or three years old. I know my Dad loved football, and watching highlights of him is very special to me and the rest of our family seeing how he played.
“I think he definitely did the Broncos organization right, and watching those teams play back in the day, I’d say the same for all those guys.”
“Those guys” were more than just Ed McCaffrey’s teammates: their performance on the field helped stoke Christian’s football imagination. And they were also a group that was nowhere near too proud or too famous to be a child’s playmate.
Shannon Sharpe, the Broncos’ All-Pro tight end and a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, played Power Rangers with Christian. Steve Atwater also took time for Christian and star wideout Rod Smith was a particular friend to his fellow receiver and his family. All while Christian came to admire both Terrell Davis as well as the Broncos’ fullback, Howard Griffith.
From head coach Mike Shanahan on down, the McCaffrey family still remains close to many from Denver’s glory days. And even as Christian has become one of the NFL’s elite players himself, those who knew him way back when still have a soft spot for him.
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“It’s just cool to see different generations go through the NFL. Pretty surreal, in a way, to be playing against my Dad’s former team. Kind of makes things go full circle,” said McCaffrey. “ It just kind of shows the brotherhood that football has in general. There’s still guys that my Dad played with who I keep in touch with just through the grapevine. A lot of those guys.”
For those in the greater Denver area, where Christian would eventually go on to star at Valor Christian in Highlands Ranch, Sunday’s game was set to offer a sentimental touch to what has been an otherwise disappointing season for the Broncos – a chance for Denver to relive the old glories of their Super Bowl 50 triumph against Carolina, all while watching Ed’s boy – all grown up – make his triumphant return from injuries this season.
Or at least it would have, had McCaffrey not endured yet another setback in what’s become the most trying year of his football career.
After there had been optimism that Week 14 would mark McCaffrey’s first game since suffering a shoulder injury against the Kansas City Chiefs, Wednesday’s injury report showed that he was limited with not only his shoulder, but also a new thigh designation. According to Panthers head coach Matt Rhule, it was believed that McCaffrey had tweaked his quad in a personal workout during the bye, and it had gotten “tight” on him during practice.
On Thursday, McCaffrey was nowhere to be seen. And afterwards, Rhule offered a deflating assessment of his top running back’s chances of playing.
“At this time, I do not expect him to play. But I’ll continue to monitor it,” said Rhule. “Nobody knows their body better than Christian, so I’ll wait to see how the rehab goes.”
While he likely goes back to the sidelines, McCaffrey’s teammates will be up against a Broncos team that Rhule believes mirrors Carolina’s. Like the Panthers, the Broncos have been on the wrong end of several one-score games, and have had to deal with the loss of their own biggest star – All-Pro outside linebacker and old Panthers tormentor Von Miller – to an ankle injury.
Nevertheless, the Broncos have still fielded a competitive team, which features playmakers like Bradley Chubb, Alexander Johnson, Justin Simmons, Kareem Jackson and more on a defense overseen by head coach Vic Fangio – once the first defensive coordinator of the Panthers.
“They’re very similar to us in a way that they’re much better than 4-8,” said McCaffrey. “They’ve played a lot of close games, and I think when you look at the way they play, they play really well together as a defense. They’ve got a stout D-Line with good edge rushers, they have good ‘backers who play downhill well, their safeties play well together. They can tackle, they can play the pass, and their corners are good as well.”
“I think they have a very complete team who plays hard and plays well together.”
With even records going into Sunday’s game, one team will improve to 5-8 and get a much-needed boost for the final three games, while the other will be left further licking their wounds at 4-9. Meanwhile, McCaffrey’s own body will have deprived him of the chance to play against his childhood team.
There is a chance McCaffrey and the Panthers will not see the Broncos again until 2024.
It will be a regrettable missed opportunity felt both in the Rocky Mountains and in Appalachia. The latter, where Christian McCaffrey is quickly writing his own pro football legacy – and the former, a place with times and people who remain very dear to him.
“Definitely a lot of cool memories,” said McCaffrey. “I know a lot’s changed, but I remember back in the day when they had old just Mile High Stadium. They’ve since tore it down and built a new one … But that was when I was growing up. Those were cool memories.”
(Top Photo of Ed McCaffrey Via Associated Press)
