Luke McCaffrey (born April 2, 2001) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

and

Rice Owls The Rice Owls are the sports teams representing Houston's Rice University in college sports. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of the American Athletic Conference, Rice sponsors ...

, originally at

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

before switching to wide receiver at Rice. McCaffrey was selected by the Commanders in the third round of the

2024 NFL draft The 2024 NFL draft was the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit on April 25–27, 2024. The draft had an attendanc ...

. A member of the McCaffrey football family, he is the son of Ed and the youngest brother of

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, and Dylan.

Early life

McCaffrey was born on April 2, 2001, in

Highlands Ranch, Colorado Highlands Ranch is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The p ...

. He attended Valor Christian High School, where he played for his father. He mostly played wide receiver and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

during his first two years of high school while his brother, Dylan, was Valor Christian's starting

. McCaffrey caught 47 passes for 717 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore. He split quarterbacking duties during his junior season and completed 76 percent of his passes for 878 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. McCaffrey passed for 2,202 yards with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions while also rushing for 526 yards and eight touchdowns as Valor Christian went undefeated and won the Class 5A state championship. McCaffrey was rated a four-star recruit, and committed to play college football at

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

over offers from

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, Colorado State,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, and

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

College career

Nebraska (2019–2021)

McCaffrey joined the

as an early enrollee. He saw his first significant playing time in a 38–31 loss to

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, replacing Noah Vedral following an injury and completing 5 of 6 pass attempts for 71 yards and one touchdown while also rushing 12 times for 76 yards. McCaffrey finished the season with 142 passing yards and two touchdown passes in four games while maintaining a redshirt for the year. He competed to be the Cornhuskers' starting quarterback in 2020, but Adrian Martinez was chosen to be the starter. McCaffrey made his first career start on November 14, 2020, against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

and completed 13 of 21 pass attempts for 152 yards and one touchdown while also rushing for 67 yards and one touchdown. He was benched in favor of Martinez after Nebraska lost 41–23 to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. McCaffrey played in seven games with two starts in 2020 and completed 48 of 76 pass attempts for 466 yards and one touchdown with six interceptions and rushed 65 times for 364 yards and three touchdowns. Following the end of the season, McCaffrey entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

Rice (2021–2023)

McCaffrey initially transferred to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

but left the program after several months to join the

. McCaffrey competed with Wiley Green for the starting quarterback job entering his first season with the team. He played in nine games with three starts. McCaffrey moved to wide receiver during spring practices in 2022. He finished the season as the Owls' leading receiver with 58 receptions for 723 yards and six touchdowns despite missing the final three games of the regular season due to an ankle injury and also rushed for 147 yards and one touchdown.

Statistics

Professional career

McCaffrey was selected by the

in the third round (100th overall) of the

; the pick was acquired in a trade that sent

Chase Young Chase Young (born April 14, 1999) is an American professional football defensive end for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he was a unanimous All-America ...

to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

the previous season. He signed his four-year rookie contract on May 10, 2024.

Statistics

Personal life

McCaffrey is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. His father, Ed McCaffrey, played wide receiver in the

(NFL) for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

and was formerly the head coach for the

Northern Colorado Bears football The Northern Colorado Bears football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Northern Colorado located in Greeley, Colorado. The team competes in the Big Sky Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Champi ...

team. His older brother,

, currently plays running back in the NFL for the

. Another brother,

, played wide receiver at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and in the NFL for several teams and his brother Dylan was the starting quarterback at

Northern Colorado Northern Colorado is the name for a region in the state of Colorado and a proposed state in the northeastern portion of Colorado. Region Northern Colorado is a region in the northern portion of Colorado. It borders northwestern Colorado, nort ...

after beginning his college career at

. His maternal grandfather,

Dave Sime David William Sime (; July 25, 1936 – January 12, 2016) was an American sprinter, multi-sport athlete at Duke University, and a pioneering ophthalmologist. He won a silver medal in the 100-meter dash (photo finish) at the 1960 Olympic ...

, won a silver medal in the 100 meter at the

1960 Olympic Games The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 19 ...

References

External links

*
Washington Commanders profile

Rice Owls profile

Nebraska Cornhuskers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaffrey, Luke 2001 births 21st-century American sportsmen American football return specialists American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Catholics from Colorado Living people McCaffrey family Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Players of American football from Colorado Rice Owls football players Sportspeople from the Denver metropolitan area Washington Commanders players Valor Christian High School alumni