When it comes to momentarily losing a child in a crowd, most parents have been there. But when it comes to how retired football player Ed McCaffrey lost his son, Christian McCaffrey, few parents have been there. Because while most parents lose sight of their child at the playground or when they run off in the grocery store, Ed couldn’t find 2-year-old Christian at the 1999 Super Bowl.
And no, he didn’t lose him in the stands.
He lost him on the field.
After he won the freakin’ Super Bowl.
(Yeah, that part’s not so relatable.)
The endearing dad of four joked about the experience on Today ahead of the big game this weekend where Christian will be hitting the field again. Not as an aimless toddler — but as a focused running back facing off against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Well I think that’s just bad parenting,” Ed said of his parenting fail. “I lost my kid after the Super Bowl, running through the confetti. You’d think I’d be a little more thoughtful.”
The Proof Is In The Picture
While Ed was looking all around, Robert Beck of Sports Illustrated had an eye on little Christian, capturing the cutest shot of the little boy running with his brother Max through the confetti. He had on a big smile and an even bigger jersey.
“But that picture’s so cool,” he continued. “Nobody knew Christian was my son. He was just some little kid with a little blond ‘fro running around who happened to get in the picture.”
Maybe it was then that Christian first had the dream of playing in the Super Bowl, Ed mused.
That fateful night in 1999, Christian was not only with his family but with Kyle Shanahan. Kyle’s dad, Mike Shanahan, had just coached Ed and the Broncos to victory. And Kyle has now coached Christian and the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl. (Pretty storybook, huh?)
The McCaffrey Family
Ed shares sons Christian, Max, Dylan, and Luke with wife Lisa. It’s no surprise that the boys were all successful football players. Athleticism is in their genes. Their dad is a Super Bowl winner, their mom was a star soccer player at Stanford, and their maternal grandfather, Dave Sime, won silver in the 100-meter dash at the 1960 Olympics. No big deal.
Lisa made headlines earlier this week when she said her family couldn’t afford a suite for this Sunday.
“None of us can afford it,” she said. “Not even Christian, moneybags over there nor [his fiancée] moneybags Olivia [Culpo]. So we are not in a suite. I’ll tell you that right now.”
Culpo quickly got her future mother-in-law the most astounding mulitmillion dollar birthday. “Fake News! Happy Birthday Lisa, I bought you a suite,” Culpo wrote on her Instagram story.
Christian and Culpo do not have kids, but both have been open to wanting to start a family. So there won’t be the risk of a mini McCaffrey getting lost in the confetti this Sunday if the 49ers take home the Lombardi trophy … but maybe next year!
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