CMC's younger brother beat his superstar sibling's 40 time. Now, the Washington Commanders rookie is ready to make his own mark on the league.
NFL FAMILY DYNASTIES aren’t exactly uncommon. Just think about the Watts, the Longs, and the Gronkowskis of recent years. But with the arrival of the youngest McCaffrey brother to the NFL this season, another family dynasty is made even stronger.
Luke McCaffrey, 23, spent two seasons in college at quarterback at Nebraska before transferring to Rice, where he completed one more season at QB before switching to receiver. The 6’2”, 200-pound Colorado native excelled as a wideout, totaling 992 yards, 71, receptions and 13 TDs in his final collegiate season and earning an invite to the Senior Bowl, where he showed off his versatility and skills with plays like this one-handed catch.
For Luke, part of his ability at receiver comes through genes. His father, Ed, was an NFL wide receiver for 13 years and his oldest brother, Max, played receiver at Duke and briefly in the NFL. But there’s also a lot of hard work, dedication, and training focus behind his performances, another family trait. You might’ve heard another of his brothers, 49ers running back Christian—the Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 reputed as much for his regimented, dedicated training programs as his ability to cut through defenses and score touchdowns.
Now, after being selected by the Washington Commanders with the 100th pick in the 2024 Draft, Luke hopes to make his own mark in the league. He spoke with Men’s Health about his expectation for his rookie season, switching positions, and backyard football battles at the McCaffrey house.
MEN'S HEALTH: What did your off-season training look like heading into your first NFL season? How have the past few months differed, training-wise, from when you were playing in college?
LUKE MCCAFFREY: Just flat out, the schedule alone is so different. It's crazy. The first year is so unique for guys because you really have no offseason. I had my [final college] season and then I had literally two days. We played a bowl game, I believe it was December 26, and I spent two days, packed up my stuff, and then moved to Florida to train at XPE with Tony Villani and Matt Gates.
What's cool about that is you're not really training for football. You're training to run a 40 and to almost be a track athlete. There's little football stuff in the middle of that. Then I had the Senior Bowl, which was a lot of fun. But the main emphasis, at least for me, was how can we run the fastest possible 40 in a month and a half? Because you don't have a whole season to train. You put all your time, effort and energy into that, and you see where your pieces lay. Then once you get done with that, you have two, maybe three weeks, and then it's your Pro Day.
I was lucky enough, I didn't have to do any testing at my pro day, but I did run some routes. Even then, you're not running routes against people. It's trying to focus on the specific routes, making sure you can do all the cuts. Then you have another two-week period, and then the draft. I didn't go to the draft, but you start the draft process and you find out where you're going. And then a couple days later you head off to wherever you went. For me, it was Washington. And then you start OTAs right away. When it comes to training, you don't have time for a full training cycle, which is so unique about your first year. The month from mid-June to mid-July between OTAs and camp was the only time I really focused on pure training to get ready for the season.
MH: Were you able to squeeze in any workouts with Christian?
LM: In that one-month period, I went to North Carolina and set up camp with Christian and we trained together. That was such a cool month for me. I got to learn from my brother. I got to figure out what somebody who does it the right way does. There was something really special about getting to train as brothers. It's something that you probably dream about your whole life, and then you get live it out, which is pretty cool.
MH: Christian has been featured in our magazine for his relentless, detailed workout regimen. You're probably still honing it, but how would you say your routine—given your different positions, your different body types—how does your routine compare to his?
LM: I played quarterback up until two years ago. What's been so cool in the last two years is I've been being able to absorb and learn everything, whether it was with Tony and Matt in Florida, whether it's through Brian Kula, who's been our trainer for a long time. Whether it's from Christian, whether it's through our players here, Terry McLaurin and (offensive assistant) Andre Coleman and wide receivers coach Bobby Engram. Being able to absorb everyone's routine and process and take what I like and find ways to implement what I need. Whether it's implementing some of the Laird Hamilton water stuff that Christian does, or the pure power that Tony Villani does, or the track background that Brian Kula is so good at.
MH: Speaking of speed, it’s worth pointing out that you were just a split second—literally, one-hundredths of a second—faster than Christian at the 40 (4.47 to 4.48 seconds). I hope you can at least hold that over his head. Maybe make him a t-shirt with 0.01 on it?
LM: (laughs) He's had enough success that I think he let me have that one. He was happy for me.
MH: To have been a college quarterback and then to move to wide receiver, is there anything you've carried over from that QB training and approach that you utilize now?
LM: There's a lot. From the mental side, the communication with your coordinator and your quarterbacks helps a lot as a receiver because so much of this game is about timing and precision. We're lucky enough to have a great coordinator with Kliff Kingsbury and a great QB with Jayden Daniels. From the physical side, quarterbacks do such a good job of maintenance. When you look at guys that do it at a high level, they have such a good way of taking care of their body.
MH: As you said, you're still a little new to receiver. Is there a current receiver in the league whose game you want to emulate? If so, who would that be?
LM: I’ve probably watched all the top receivers in the league and tried to take something from their game. I think Amon-Ra St. Brown is someone who does things at a high level and has a similar body type to me. He works his butt off and brings that consistency. Cooper Kupp is another one that, especially when I first switched positions, that was his triple crown year. I loved watching him because I looked at somebody who was 6’2” and weighed 200 to 205, and I was like, I fit into that.
Nothing has been able to beat being able to see the people around me every day. Between Oz [Olamide Zaccheaus] and Terry [McLaurin], I've been able to learn so much. It helps when you have two guys who are veterans who play the game at such a high level and have such cool unique skill sets. With receivers, there’s a little bit of an art form when it comes to route running. To be able to learn some of the techniques and flow that they bring to the game has been really special for me.
MH: Is there anything that you miss about being a quarterback?
LM: Quarterback's fun. You get to touch the ball every play. You have a lot of impact in the game. It was always really fun to be in control, but there's also some freedom at receiver of being able to always be able to attack. At quarterback, a lot of it is patience and being able to understand and comprehend things. With receiver, it's fun to be a little bit more aggressive.
I got in the habit of turning the ball over because I wanted to score a touchdown on every play. At quarterback, that's not your job. Your job is to score points, obviously, but it's to do it in a meticulous, strategical fashion. It's been cool being a receiver where I can let a little bit of that aggression out. Quarterback, it seems like sometimes, the harder you try, the worse you do, just because you get in your head and overanalyze things. Receiver is so fun—it’s a lot more about the flow and the rhythm of how to run routes and how to get open than it is the analytical part. That's something that's been really fun to match with my personality.
MH: When it comes to working out and getting your body ready, is there a particular exercise that you love?
LM: I've always loved running. I grew up playing a million sports, whether it was basketball, lacrosse. Just being on a field, being able to run and get into that aspect of flow and rhythm. just being able to build that explosiveness—any sprints, any change of direction. The change of direction aspect has always been something that I was kind of naturally solid at. I love building that and being able to do different maneuvers and movements with the change of direction aspect.
MH: So, if it’s the McCaffrey brothers and your parents (shout out to your mom Lisa, who was also a college athlete at Stanford)—if you're all playing backyard football, who is dominating?
LM: If we're looking back, I probably got my butt kicked a time or two. So I can't say myself, as much as my ego wants me to. I was always the youngest. Max and Christian always battled it out, and me and Dylan usually got bruised and battered. It was always so fun, though. Now I'm probably tougher for that, which is cool. Dad was usually the coach, the overseer. Every once in a while, he'd hop in and show us that we're not as good as we think and show us up. But he was usually overseeing and making sure somebody didn't break a bone.
MH: Were there any broken bones?
LM: There were some injuries for sure.
MH: How about your mom? What have you learned or taken from her that you feel like has really helped you thus far?
LM: My mom's the spark plug of our family. The energy and the vibration that you can feel from her is so evident from everyone that ever meets her. The passion that she has for life. Being able to grow up with that energy in your house is awesome because there's always something to be thankful for. My dad's a lot more stoic, a lot more analytical, and my mom acts on her emotions.
MH: So again, you’re a young guy and maybe still in that ‘eat whatever I want’ phase of life. Do you have a chef? Do you cook? What does your nutrition look like?
LM: I cook a lot, which is nice. I'm allergic to dairy and peanuts, so it's easiest for me to get what I need through cooking. And it is the best way to get healthy snacks. It’s cool to go through that process of trying to make different things with oats or potatoes, different things like that. And a lot of red meat, fish.
MH: Do you have a cheat food that you love? Given your dairy allergy, I’m guessing it’s not a Dairy Queen blizzard.
LM: I mix it up. I've been eating a lot of the Oatly ice cream. They have a good cookie dough flavor that I have at least once a week.
MH: Your oldest brother, Max, is an offensive assistant with the Miami Dolphins. He played wide receiver in college and for an NFL season. Has he given you any advice?
LM: Since I switched positions, my dad has obviously helped a lot, and all of my coaches have helped a lot, too. But nobody has been more hands-on than [Max], he’s probably been the most influential and helpful person through this entire journey, and that has been one of the most special things of my life. It was so cool watching different cutups, my clips, and having somebody who has played it at a high level that I can learn from. I'm so excited to watch his coaching journey. When it comes to my own personal gratitude towards him, I couldn't express that with words. He’s seven years older than me, so he went to college when I was in sixth grade. It's been really cool to build that relationship.
MH: With a dad and two brothers who played/are playing in the NFL, how do you see yourself forging your own path in the league? What do you envision when you think about that?
LM: Any day where I can still play football is probably the best day ever. Especially while I'm young and in that phase of still absorbing and trying to learn and grow before you hit your peak, I'm trying to see how much better I can get. I grew up playing other positions, doing other things, and so I don't know in this journey if I ever had a clear vision. And I think there's a lot of freedom in that—of being able to forge my own path and build this journey.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.