McCaffrey continues family legacy of athletic excellence for Duke football

Throughout head coach David Cutcliffe’s eight years at Duke, his M.O.—aside from re-energizing a near-dead football program—has been recruiting hidden gems, players who the rest of the football world deemed a step too slow or an inch too short, and giving them the platform and opportunity to succeed.

Senior receiver Max McCaffrey is the latest entry in this category.

McCaffrey rose to prominence his sophomore year, when he stepped up as a solid third or fourth option for then-quarterback Anthony Boone, who targeted the majority of his passes to Jamison Crowder and Braxton Deaver. But even with the talent in front of him, McCaffrey’s playing time didn’t falter—he recorded a catch in all but two games that season, and by the time his junior season rolled around, he had established himself as one of the best young route runners in the league.

Although his touchdowns dipped from four to three in 2014, McCaffrey improved in nearly every other category, racking up 11 more catches and 103 more yards than in his sophomore campaign, often times functioning as Boone’s No. 2 or No. 3 option.

All of this, of course, leads to the present day. McCaffrey is the team’s primary option out wide and currently boasts 25 catches for 360 yards and three scores through just seven games for No. 22 Duke. Barring injury or a complete reworking of the Blue Devil offense,  he will surely set career highs in all three categories by year’s end.

But the ascendence of McCaffrey shouldn’t be all that surprising.

'A great game'

This past weekend’s wacky, four-overtime victory at Virginia Tech may have been McCaffrey’s best game in a Blue Devil uniform. His first touchdown catch—one Cutcliffe called “incredible”—came just 5:11 into the game, as Sirk took the snap from the one-yard line, rolled left and fired a strike over the middle to McCaffrey, who made the snag despite being draped by one Hokie and taking a punishing hit from another waiting for him in the end zone. Of course, the sure-handed Castle Rock, Colo., native made the snag.

“In a game, these are real people and things don’t always happen the way you plan. He does all the little things right, that he’s where he needs to be when the quarterback needs to throw,” Faris said. “He’s a playmaker, but his versatility is what sets him apart. He can hold up blocking on the edge, run past corners.... You tell him once, he’s got it.”

And although a large part of that stems from his work ethic, which is lauded by everyone from his dad to his coaches and his teammates, at least a sliver of his innate talent stems from the fact that he was more or less born to succeed on some type of field.

Family business

Nobody should ever be confused as to how or why anyone with the last name McCaffrey is a stud on the football field. Among the great American sports families, the McCaffreys have spent the past 25 years etching themselves into the fibers of both college and professional sports.

Ed McCaffrey, Max’s father, was a four-year letter-winner as a receiver at Stanford—where he was an All-American his senior year—and went on to complete a 13-year career in the NFL. McCaffrey won three Super Bowls, one with the San Francisco 49ers and two with the John Elway-helmed Denver Broncos, and was selected to a Pro Bowl team before retiring in 2004. Lisa McCaffrey, Max’s mom, was also a letter-winner for the Cardinal as a member of the women’s soccer team during her time in Palo Alto.

Now consider that Max—the oldest of four sons for Ed and Lisa—has one younger brother, Christian, who is currently a dark-horse Heisman Trophy candidate as Stanford’s starting running back, and a second younger brother that is currently a four-star quarterback for Max and Christian’s high school, Valor Christian.

And if you’re wondering why Max didn’t follow his father and go to Stanford, rest assured that even with all the Cardinal red dominating his childhood, blue blood was already in McCaffrey’s veins. After all, Billy McCaffrey, Max’s uncle, scored 16 points as a sophomore for Duke in the Blue Devils’ 1991 national championship victory against Kansas before transferring to Vanderbilt. And his maternal grandfather, Dave Sime, was a Duke graduate—along with being an Olympic medalist and one of the fastest humans alive in the 1950s.

But despite the everyday presence of it during Max’s childhood with his dad in the NFL, life hasn’t revolved around sports for the McCaffrey family. Max was adamant that his father took a laissez-faire approach to football, letting each of his children explore what interested them, whether it took place on the field, in the classroom or anywhere in between.

“My wife and I would be proud of our sons if they didn’t play sports,” Ed McCaffrey said.

Max handled a large chunk of the responsibility of looking after his siblings while growing up, including driving them to school some mornings with Ed often on the road, his dad said. And even with Ed flourishing in the NFL, Max and his brothers had a fairly normal childhood, filled with shooting airsoft guns, climbing trees in the backyard and taking family vacations to Miami.

“Most of the time, we weren’t playing football. We were just at our house, playing video games, hanging out, talking, just as any normal kids would,” Max McCaffrey said. “I really liked growing up with my brothers. I’m so happy they’re just in my life, because, obviously, growing up without them would have been a lot different. So I’m with them all the time. It’s a great bond, and you never get bored.”

From coast to coast

It was that bond that made the decision to uproot and relocate to Durham a difficult one for McCaffrey. So when Cutcliffe came knocking—before Duke had sniffed a bowl game—he made sure to give Max a good enough reason to leave the Rockies for the Triangle.

“I’ve always been a Duke fan growing up, but that’s not all you can take into consideration. After talking to Coach Cutcliffe, I realized that [he] and the whole staff and players, they had a vision for Duke football,” McCaffrey said. “It’s something that I hadn’t seen from Duke growing up too often and I just realized they wanted to make a change within the program. I definitely thought I needed to be a part of this, because it’s something that’s just bigger than yourself.”

Still, the move was difficult—Max calling the first year a hard one, as he thought he would be able to see his family more often. But it was in this struggle that Max would once again pave the way and lead the younger McCaffreys that hoped to follow in his footsteps.

“For my brothers, I think it’s been a little easier for them, seeing me go through it and understanding what the process is like,” Max said. “I was a little scared going in, not knowing and it being the first time away from the house. It’s obviously improved and I got used to it, just as any normal college student does.”

Keeping up with the McCaffreys

Despite his proven playmaking ability and consistent production, McCaffrey isn’t the most famous active, football-related McCaffrey. That honor currently belongs to Christian.

The sophomore has compiled 953 rushing yards and six scores to go along with a pair of receiving touchdowns for the No. 8 Cardinal, thrusting him into the Heisman conversation. Prior to the season, the hype surrounding Christian was fairly minimal—unless you spoke with Max.

“I talk to Christian a lot. I’m not surprised at all [by his success] as his older brother,” Max said. “I see his work habits just day-in and day-out, he puts in the time, definitely. I’m glad to see him finally stepping up this year and having a big year. It’s fun to watch.”

And although he can’t always catch Christian’s games due to conflicts of schedule, he says he keeps up with his stats and tunes in to Stanford games when he can. Watching Dylan—the second-youngest McCaffrey—is a bit easier because he plays on Fridays, meaning Max can keep up with how the four-star prospect with offers from UCLA, Duke and Michigan fares.

With the trio of brothers seemingly destined for success on the football field, the common denominator seems not to be breakaway speed or imposing physiques but rather a sheer desire to outwork everyone else on the field. And, unsurprisingly, that trait stems from Max.

“He’s that senior leader, and he’s consistent,” Sirk said. “He has the most experience of any of [the receivers]. He’s played in some big-time football games and he continues to impress me week-to-week with how hard he plays. But like I said about other guys, it really doesn’t surprise me. His mentality at practice each day, he brings that same mentality he does in a game to practice each day and challenges himself.”

Faris said McCaffrey gathers his fellow receivers every week to watch tape on their own, and that in the offseason, he is constantly checking on the group to make sure every player is doing what they need to in order to stay in shape and improve their game. And the hard work is paying off—Sirk and the receiving corps arguably had their most complete and in-sync game of the season in Blacksburg, with the first-year starting quarterback looking more comfortable than ever slinging the ball downfield against the Hokies.

"A lot of people had doubts—losing great people like Jamison [Crowder] and Issac [Blakeney]—two incredible receivers," Max said. "But a lot of people who just watch the games, they don’t see what happens at practice every single day, they’re not around, they’re not there. But we knew we had guys who could step up and make plays. We have a lot of talent on this team, a lot of people who were waiting for an opportunity."

'A great ride'

As the now-bowl eligible Blue Devils move forward, McCaffrey—who will graduate with a degree in Psychology and a certificate in Markets & Management and currently plans to pursue a professional career in football before earning an MBA—is determined to set his focus on Miami. Then North Carolina. Then Pittsburgh. And so on.

As a senior, McCaffrey knows his time in a Blue Devil uniform is coming to an end, but even so, he is making sure to keep his focus short-sighted—a trait every coach seeks in a top offensive threat. Despite having Cutcliffe’s master plan in mind, the success he and his fellow Blue Devil seniors have experienced in their four years has far surpassed the expectations of the ultra-competitive 18-year old Max.

And he’s more than fine with that.

“I had no idea. I didn’t know what to expect. I guess, at the time, probably not, honestly,” he said. “But it’s been such a great ride, and I love the team.”