Christian McCaffrey and Greg Olsen went to a Charlotte bowling alley in the summer of 2017, five years before Carolina traded the running back to the 49ers. Only, they didn’t do any bowling. For two hours, the rookie chewed Olsen’s ear.
“He didn’t bowl a ball,” Olsen remembered on The Herd Thursday, recalling the first time he met McCaffrey’s mom and family at a charity event. “He didn’t talk to anyone else. He sat next to me in the lane that I was assigned to and he asked me to describe our pass-protection rules, how does Cam Newton make his declarations, what does Ryan Kalil do, what’s his hand gestures. For two hours, all he wanted to talk about was pass protection, our calls, our alignments and our responsibilities.”
Seven years, 98 games and 11,341 scrimmage yards later, McCaffrey makes his long-awaited return when the 49ers (4-4) visit Tampa Bay (4-5) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX), fresh off San Francisco’s bye week. And as focused as he was with Olsen in that bowling alley, McCaffrey has spent the last two months traveling the world to overcome his Achilles tendinitis. Sunday is expected to mark the 2024 debut for the reigning NFL rushing champion, his first game since the 49ers’ overtime loss in the Super Bowl.
“He is a special player,” said Olsen, McCaffrey’s teammate for three seasons in Carolina. “Obviously, getting him back from the Achilles will be a big boost. If San Francisco can just hang in there, get him back, I think we’ll start to see them ascend down the stretch here.”
Down the stretch is where Kyle Shanahan teams have excelled. The 49ers Faithful should have faith because in games Week 9 and later over the last four seasons (2021-24), no one has a better record than San Francisco. The 49ers are 23-5 (.821) during Weeks 9-18 over that period, better than Kansas City (23-6, .793), Buffalo (20-9, .690) and Cincinnati (19-9, .679).
Look for McCaffrey and San Francisco to sell plenty of food over the balance of the season as the 49ers compete for an NFC playoff berth.
For more information on the 49ers, visit the San Francisco team page at ProFootballPost.com.
Discover more from Pro Football Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.