Regarded as one of the best blocking wide receivers of all time, he is a three-time Super Bowl champion (XXIX, XXXII, XXXIII), one-time Pro Bowl selection, one-time All-Pro selection, two-time All-Madden selection, and member of the Denver Broncos 50th Anniversary Team. His nicknames include "Easy,"[1] “Eddie Mac,”[2] “White Lightning,”[3] and “The Bruise.”[4]
McCaffrey attended Stanford University, where he played college football for the Cardinal. He finished his Stanford career as the school's fifth all-time leader in receptions (146) and third all-time leader in receiving yards (2,333). He earned first-team All-America and All-Pac-10 Conference honors as a senior in 1990, catching 61 passes for 917 yards and eight touchdowns that season. McCaffrey was enshrined in Stanford's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990.[6] At Stanford, he also was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.[citation needed]
With the Denver Broncos, he became a reliable target for quarterback John Elway, set a Broncos record for most receptions in a season at the time with 101 receptions in the 2000 season, and had an exceptional performance in Super Bowl XXXIII against the Atlanta Falcons, recording five catches for 72 yards. In 2000, McCaffrey and teammate Rod Smith became only the second wide receiver duo from the same team to each gain 100 receptions in the same season, matching a record by Herman Moore and Brett Perriman.
In the opening game of the Broncos' 2001 season, McCaffrey suffered a leg fracture in a Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants.[9] He rebounded in the 2002 season for the Broncos, registering 69 receptions and 903 yards. Hampered by injuries during a disappointing 2003 season, McCaffrey retired on February 29, 2004. He finished his career with 565 career receptions for 7,422 yards along with 55 touchdowns.[10]
On December 12, 2019, the University of Northern Colorado hired McCaffrey as head football coach.[12] He was fired from the position on November 21, 2022.
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth
Life after football
McCaffrey began coaching youth football camps in the summer of 2000. In 2011, he founded SportsEddy, which includes not just football but lacrosse, soccer, baseball and basketball camps. The Ed McCaffrey "Dare to Play" football camp and the "Dare to Cheer" cheerleading camp for individuals with Down syndrome are produced in partnership with the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. McCaffrey also founded the McCaffrey Family Foundation with wife Lisa, to assist children whose medical situation has created an academic or financial hardship.
He also has his own brand of mustard and horseradish sauce, which can be found in supermarkets across Colorado and into Nebraska. On July 30, 2012, McCaffrey was named the new color analyst for 850 KOA, flagship station of the Denver Broncos Radio Network, replacing Brian Griese. On January 7, 2019, it was announced he would serve as the commissioner of the Pacific Pro Football league, a planned professional development football league founded by Don Yee.
McCaffrey met his wife, Lisa (Sime), daughter of OlympicsprinterDave Sime, while they were both students at Stanford University. They have four sons together, all of whom have played football.
Their eldest, Max, was a wide receiver who played college football at Duke. He was on the rosters of several different NFL teams from 2016 to 2018,[13] and served as offensive assistant for Miami Dolphins[14]
Dylan McCaffrey was a four-star quarterback for Valor Christian who graduated in 2017. His team won the Colorado Class 5A state championship, the highest level of play, in three of the four years he played. As the second-ranked quarterback in the country and top-ranked quarterback in Colorado, Dylan received scholarship offers from Duke, Colorado, Rutgers, LSU, Michigan, Washington, UCLA, Colorado State, and Penn State.[18] He committed to play college football at Michigan in February 2016.[19] In January 2021, he announced his transfer to Northern Colorado.[20]
McCaffrey's youngest son, Luke McCaffrey, graduated Valor Christian in May 2019. He received football scholarship offers from Michigan and Nebraska.[21] He committed to Nebraska in June 2018.[22] In February 2021, he announced he was transferring to the University of Louisville.[23] On June 9, 2021, he re-entered the transfer portal; on June 14, 2021, he announced that he was transferring to Rice University.[24]
