In a game McCaffrey accounted for 368 yards, a fitting capstone to a season in which, as a true sophomore, he gained 3,864 all-purpose yards, breaking the NCAA mark of Barry Sanders, whose posters adorned his childhood wall. Because McCaffrey is a perfectionist, however, when he came out in the fourth quarter after a seven-yard reception, he was pissed because he hadn't slipped one last tackle. Cardinal coach David Shaw wrapped an arm around him. "You just broke two Rose Bowl records," Shaw said. "You're going to stand here and enjoy it."
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Lisa tells the story of how, as a ninth-grader, Christian was tackled and ended up on the opposing sideline. "A coach gets in Christian's face and says, 'You're a p----, just like your dad!' And Christian goes, 'I'm 14 years old!'" She laughs. "It was the perfect comeback."
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When the team voted on captains before Christian's senior season, the coach says, "pretty much everybody had Christian first." But Christian said, "We don't need captains, we're all in this together," so they were all co-captains. Says Sherman, "He has the ability to make himself less to make others great."
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Failure? Failure can be explained, according to Christian. "The secret behind success isn't as much of a secret as people think," he says with the certainty 19-year-olds regularly muster. "It's pretty simple. It's working as hard as you can to accomplish what you want."
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Christian talks about "playing pissed off" because "people think we're cushy or just nerds" and about becoming "a new being" when he walks onto the field. "It's about finding that animal inside of you, finding that beast that can go 60 minutes of fast, physical football."
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"There are immediate stereotypes about a white running back who grew up in the suburbs of Colorado," Ed says. "When we've gone to camps or all-star games, he walks on the field and people look at him like he's nothing."
Christian tries to brush it off, but it's not easy. "When you read about white athletes these days and white skill possession receivers specifically, one word you'll always find is tough. You'll rarely see explosive, athletic, stuff like that. … You get a little bit upset: 'I ran the same 40 as this guy, and you're calling him ...'" He trails off. "People do the eye test and underestimate me, so I do play with a chip on my shoulder."
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Christian passes a gym where a ragtag game of pickup basketball plays out. "Man, how great would it be just to play some hoops right now?" he asks. He watches for a moment, caught up in the carefree, almost reckless play. A bunch of college kids screwing around. Maybe they'd go out and drink beer after. Or spend the night playing video games and talking about girls.
McCaffrey shoulders his bag and keeps going. He has physics homework to finish, after all, and sleep to log, and a workout to dominate in the morning. Now is not the time to dawdle.
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Chris Ballard wrote: