San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has become known for his competitive prowess off the field, regularly defeating teammates in chess and word games. McCaffrey, who attended Stanford, recently reached the 1000 level on chess.com, placing him on the verge of advanced player status. Teammates say they avoid competing against him in mental challenges.
McCaffrey leads the NFL with 1,439 yards from scrimmage and has scored 11 touchdowns this season. He is on pace to become the first player to record 1,000 rushing and receiving yards in multiple seasons. The 49ers face the Carolina Panthers on Monday in McCaffrey\'s first game against his former team.
Multiple teammates described McCaffrey\'s dominance in games during team travel. Fullback Kyle Juszczyk and tight end George Kittle both declined to continue playing anagram games with McCaffrey after early defeats.
\"It\'s annoying because he\'s pretty effing good,\" Juszczyk said who attended Harvard.
\"It\'s not even fun,\" Kittle said. \"His first week here, I played him one time and he beat me by like 100 words. I\'d never played the game before. And I was like, \'Yeah, not wasting my time.\'\"
Guard Dominick Puni remains McCaffrey\'s only regular opponent in word games. The two played their first anagram game to 100 points, with McCaffrey winning 100-97. Puni said McCaffrey regularly texts him at 8 p.m. to challenge him.
McCaffrey\'s mother, Lisa McCaffrey, said the family has chessboards throughout their Denver-area home. Christian and his three brothers played regularly while growing up. All four brothers were in chess club during elementary school.
\"They\'re all closet nerds,\" Lisa McCaffrey said. \"Ed\'s a nerd. You think they\'re cool because they play football, but deep down inside, they\'re all a little bit nerdy.\"
McCaffrey\'s youngest brother Luke, a receiver for the Washington Commanders, said the two play chess online during their training sessions. Luke claims to be the family chess champion, though Christian disputed that assertion.