ROGER CRAIG, MARSHALL FAULK AND CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY
The first name which comes to mind is Jimmy Brown.
We called him, “Jimmy” back in the day.
Jim Brown.
There were running backs who were his equal — just not before he played or while he was playing.
Nine-time Pro Bowler…in 9 seasons.
First-Team All-Pro eight times.
Led the NFL in rushing every year of his career except one, and that year, accounted for more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage and scored 18 touchdowns.
(The year was 1962 and Jim Taylor of the Packers led the NFL in rushing).
Three MVP Awards.
Retired with all the major rushing records, most of which have been surpassed.
The only player to average more than 100 rushing yards per game…for his career.
He played 12 and 14-game seasons.
And he retired at age 29.
Walter Payton.
Barry Sanders.
Emmitt Smith.
LaDainian Tomlinson.
Earl Campbell.
O.J. Simpson.
Eric Dickerson.
Gale Sayers.
None — not one — of these legendary running backs ever gained 1,000 rushing yards in a single season…while amassing 1,000 yards receiving.
Not one.
Welcome, Roger Craig, 2020 NFL Hall of Fame Nominee.
Welcome Marshall Faulk, 2011 First Ballot NFL Hall of Fame Inductee.
And welcome Christian McCaffrey.
CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY?
Are you shittin’ me?
Why? He’s the real deal.
He most certainly is!!
McCaffrey’s numbers are staggering, and on December 29, 2019 in the 5–11 Carolina Panthers last game of a dismal campaign — a 42–10 loss to the Saints — he joined Roger Craig (1985) and Marshall Faulk (1999) as the only players in NFL history to record 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season.
McCaffrey is just the fourth running back since the AFL-NFL merger in 1966 to have a 1,000-yard-receiving season, along with Craig, Faulk and Lionel “Little Train” James.
James was a 5’6” 171 lb. running back out of Auburn, where he shared the backfield with somebody by the name of Bo Jackson.
Y’know, “Bo knows.”
[In 1985 with the San Diego Chargers, James set the then-NFL season records for receiving yards by a running back (1,027 yds); all-purpose yardage (2,535 yds); and led the AFC in receptions (86)].
No less an authority than Roger Craig himself predicted in the summer of 2019, that young McCaffrey would join the exclusive club because he possessed the necessary skills and was assigned the right role in the offense.
Craig marveled at McCaffrey’s route-running ability and noted that the Panthers’ offense was geared to getting him the touches he needed to accomplish the feat.
Astutely, Craig also cited McCaffrey’s DNA.
Father Ed, a former Stanford and NFL wide receiver and mother Lisa, a former Stanford soccer star, as well as his siblings, uncle and maternal grandfather, Dave Sime — a silver medalist in the 100-meter dash at the 1960 Olympic Games — were and are terrific athletes with boundless God-given gifts.
“For him to catch over 100 passes is so impressive as well,” Craig stated in admiration.
Indeed.
The week before the Saints game, McCaffrey broke his NFL single-season record for catches by a running back when he nabbed # 109, two more than he had in 2018.
He finished 2019 with 116 catches, good for 1,005 receiving yards.
Clearly, McCaffrey belongs in the company he keeps.
Roger Craig…
Roger Craig won three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers and was selected to four Pro Bowls.
He led the NFL in receptions in 1985 with 92, worth 1,016 yards (11.0 Y/R) .
He rushed for 1,050 yards that season (4.9 Y/A).
Yards/Scm, as in Yards from Scrimmage?
2066.
Math, again.
Career?
8,189 Rushing Yards; 56 TDs.
4.1 Y/A.
4,911 Receiving Yards; 17 TDs.
566 Receptions.
8.7 Y/R.
Playoffs?
841 Rushing Yards; 7 TDs.
4.0 Y/A.
606 Receiving Yards; 2 TDs.
63 Receptions.
9.6 Y/R.
Craig, Lydell Mitchell and Chuck Foreman are the only running backs to lead the NFL in receptions for a single season.
He is one of three running backs to ever record 100 or more receiving yards in a Super Bowl. (James White of the Patriots in SB LI; Corey Clement of the Eagles in SB LII).
And he was chosen as a running back on the National Football League 1980s All-Decade Team, alongside Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson and John Riggins.
Incredulity could best describe one’s reaction — it is unfathomable actually — to consider that the fabled NFL HOF Gold Jacket is not yet hanging in Roger Craig’s closet.
It will be.
Marshall Faulk had no such concern.
Spending his first five NFL seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, who selected him second overall in the 1994 NFL Draft (behind DT Dan Wilkinson), before moving to the St. Louis Rams and The Greatest Show on Turf for his last eight years, Faulk’s achievements were legendary.
Apart from being a card-carrying member of this exclusive 1,000/1,000 club, he also is one of only three NFL players (Marcus Allen and Tiki Barber, the others) to compile at least 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards, and he stands alone as one who amassed 12,000 yards rushing and 6,000 yards receiving.
His career stats couldn’t be more glittering:
12,279 Rushing Yards; 4.3 Y/A; 100 Rushing Touchdowns; 767 Receptions; 6,875 Receiving Yards; 9.0 Y/R; 36 Receiving Touchdowns.
In the playoffs — 12 games — his numbers looked like this:
602 Rushing Yards; 3.65 Y/A; 6 Rushing Touchdowns; 52 Receptions; 519 Receiving Yards; 9.98 Y/R; 2 Receiving Touchdowns.
A bit less sparkling perhaps, but two Super Bowl appearances and a victory in SB XXXIV in the books.
Christian McCaffrey has suffered two injuries this season, a high ankle sprain costing him 6 games, and a shoulder injury incurred late in Sunday’s (November 8) 33–31 Panther loss to the Chiefs.
Before the injury, he had made his presence felt with 69 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries and 82 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches.
He is listed as “day-to-day.”
“Day-to-day” is the credo by which we should all live, especially in these troubled times.
Christian McCaffrey will heal; he’ll be back.
And then buckle chin straps and fasten seatbelts.
He’s just beginning.
Not only does this young pup belong in the company of royalty, he may turn out to be King.
[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in November 2020.]
