Kyle Shanahan believes there could have been a different set of X’s and O’s on Christian McCaffrey’s mind the day he said “I do” to now-wife Olivia Culpo.
The 49ers head coach referenced the couple’s dreamy June wedding this week when discussing the star 28-year-old running back’s passion for the game, as a calf strain has hindered much of his training camp.
“When you’re hurt, you’re hurt, you can’t go. But when you take every rep, every walk-through, everything you do, you’re just so deliberate and everything.” Shanahan told reporters. “When he’s probably walking down the aisle to get married, he’s probably thinking about his feet and how to do routes, no offense to Olivia. But he’s obsessed with it. And so, when you do get in these situations where you do get hurt and can’t go do all that stuff, at least he’s put the work in before.
“So that stuff does come back fast. He understands what it takes to play in this game, especially at the level he does.”
Shanahan, who took the 49ers to the Super Bowl in February before losing to the Chiefs in overtime, 25-22, was in attendance for McCaffrey’s Rhode Island nuptials earlier this summer.
The reigning Offensive Player of the Year wed Culpo, a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit alum, at Watch Hill Chapel in Westerly before celebrating at the lavish Ocean House resort.
Tight end George Kittle and fullback Kyle Juszczyk were among the 49ers in attendance.
McCaffrey did have something of a false start at the chapel, according to Culpo, when he “blurted out ‘I do!’ within the first 30 seconds of the ceremony.”
“The priest told him we weren’t quite there yet, and our family and friends had a great moment of laughter at his eagerness. As a bride, there’s no better feeling than your husband not being able to wait a second longer to marry you,” Culpo, 32, told Vogue.
The couple announced their engagement in 2023 after getting together in 2019.
McCaffrey, a three-time Pro Bowler, is entering his second full season in San Francisco.
He spent the first five and a half seasons of his NFL career with the Panthers before being traded to the 49ers in 2022.
The 49ers will wrap up the preseason on Friday against the Raiders before hosting the Jets in their season opener on “Monday Night Football” on Sept. 9.
