Christian McCaffrey: Trade to 49ers ‘the best thing that ever happened to me’
After six seasons with the Carolina Panthers, the San Francisco 49ers traded for superstar running back Christian McCaffrey ahead of last year’s NFL Trade Deadline. Safe to say, this move pleased the running back. McCaffrey has come out and said that the trade to San Francisco is the best ever thing to happen to him. With McCaffrey returning to the Bay Area, he had some wholesome thoughts on the situation.
“In hindsight, I firmly believe it’s the best thing that ever happened to me but at the time, it was bittersweet,” McCaffrey said, according to Cam Inman of The Mercury News. “I mean, you’re leaving, in my head I was pissed off to be frank, I felt like, ‘you guys don’t want me anymore’ and that’s what it is and it is what it is.
“I was hungry, I think that was the first emotion, I was hungry to kind of get back to the football that I knew I could play.”
(All quotes via theScore.)
The Carolina Panthers drafted McCaffrey with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. After being drafted out of Stanford, he would be regarded as one of the best dual-threat running backs in the NFL. McCaffrey would quickly explode onto the NFL scene with 1,000 total yards in his rookie year. After his rookie season, McCaffrey would go nuclear. He would obtain 1,965 yards from scrimmage in 2018 and an NFL-most 2,392 yards from scrimmage in 2019, earning first-team All-Pro along with the AP Offensive Player of the Year. But the injury bug struck, limiting him to 10 combined games in 2020 and 2021.
With McCaffrey healthy once again, the San Francisco 49ers have one of the most dynamic offenses in the league with multiple skill position threats. McCaffrey became a huge asset in the 49ers’ playoff run last season and will look to continue on it this season.
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