Luke McCaffrey (born April 2, 2001) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

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 the Cornhuskers compete in NCAA Divis ...

and

Rice Owls Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of Conference USA, Rice sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanctio ...

, originally at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

before switching to wide receiver at Rice. McCaffrey was selected by the Commanders in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft. A member of the McCaffrey football family, he is the son of Ed and younger brother of Max,

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, and Dylan.

Early life and high school

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 po ...

. He attended

Valor Christian High School Valor Christian High School is a private, Christian high school in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, United States. The school colors are Navy blue, Columbia blue, and white, and the school nickname is ''The Eagles''. Valor has four major focuses: Academi ...

, 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 committed to play college football at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

over offers from

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

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 in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th 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 campu ...

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. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. 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.

Rice (2021–2023)

McCaffrey initially transferred to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

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 2024 NFL draft; the pick was acquired in a trade that sent

Chase Young Chase Young (born April 14, 1999) is an American football defensive end for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Maryland, he played college football at Ohio State University for the Buckeyes. During hi ...

to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-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 of the league's National ...

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

Personal life

McCaffrey's father,

Ed McCaffrey Edward Thomas McCaffrey, Jr. (born August 17, 1968) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons. McCaffrey played college football for Stanford University and earn ...

, 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and was formerly the head football coach for the

Northern Colorado Bears The Northern Colorado Bears are the athletic teams representing the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado in intercollegiate athletics. The university sponsors seventeen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, gol ...

. His older brother,

, currently plays running back in the NFL for the

. Another brother, Max, played wide receiver at

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

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 at the 1960 Olympic Games. He held sever ...

, was an athlete and 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 ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympi ...

. McCaffrey is a devout

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, along with his parents and siblings.

References

External links

*
Washington Commanders bio

Rice Owls bio

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCaffrey, Luke 2001 births American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers American Roman Catholics 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