The Carolina Panthers Christian McCaffrey is following in the family bloodlines of being a sports achiever - (Keith Allison photo)

Craig Sager known for his colorful and distinctive suits during his more than 40-year career passed away at the age of 65 after battling acute myeloid leukemia since he was first diagnosed in 2014 - (pvsbond photo) REMEMBERING CRAIG SAGER

SPORTS NOTES - THE NFL's Christian McCAFFREY's Family

James Loving/National Radio Text Service

As the song goes, 'We Are Family' the Carolina Panthers Christian McCaffrey is following in the family bloodlines of being a sports achiever - McGregor vs. Pacquiao or not"- NBA TRIVIA - NBA's GREATEST PLAYERS - THIS DAY IN THE NBA

Friday, November 30, 2018

IT'S IN THE BLOOD

When it comes to the McCaffrey's as the saying goes it all in the family when it comes to playing sports. Currently the Carolina Panthers double threat running back Christian McCaffrey is causing all the noise. This past week he set a franchise record in total rushing and receiving yardage gained against the Seattle Seahawks in a 30-27 losing effort.

McCaffrey racked up 237 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. He had 17 carries for 125 yards and 11 catches for 112 yards, becoming the first Carolina player to surpass 100 yards in both receiving and rushing in the same game.

The Carolina Panthers selected McCaffrey in the first round with the eighth overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. He was the second running back selected in that year's draft. Only Leonard Fournette went before him with the fourth overall pick. On May 4, 2017, the Panthers signed McCaffrey to a four-year, $17.2 million contract with the signing bonus of $10.7 million.

The back story is he comes from good stock and an athletic family. His father Ed was an NFL player who had a solid career. Ed married his school sweetheart Lisa (Sime), daughter of Olympic sprinter Dave Sime, while they both attended Stanford University. They have four sons that play football.

Father Ed McCaffrey now 50, also played college football at Stanford University in California, and as a senior in 1990 was an All-American.

Dad took all of the height in the family being 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) and weighing 215 lb (98 kg). That compares to his son being 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) and weighing 205 lb (93 kg).

Dad McCaffrey was selected by the Giants in the third round (83rd overall) in the 1991 NFL draft. During his thirteen-year career, he won three Super Bowl rings (Super Bowl XXIX, as a 49er; XXXII and XXXIII, as a Bronco) and made a Pro Bowl appearance in 1998.

In this department Christian has some catching up to do.

Ed set a Broncos record for most receptions in a season (with 101 receptions in 2000), and had an exceptional performance in Super Bowl XXXIII, recording five catches for 72 yards. He finished his 13 year career with 565 career receptions for 7,422 yards and 55 touchdowns.

His beast season was 1998 when he played 15 games, had 64 receptions for 1,053 yards and a 16.5 yards per catch average and 10 touchdowns.

Basically… as radio personality Paul Harvey often said, and now you know the rest of the story… ahh when it comes to Christian McCaffrey's sports bloodline that is.

GO FIGURE… McGREGOR vs PACQUIAO?

Although Manny Pacquiao has expressed an interest in fighting Connor McGregor there seems to be zero interest from the Irishman. One major appeal about the sport is the challenge between fighters from different countries. McGregor has repeatedly said about the Irish when he wins a fight, "We're taking over."

Well that has been the case until he ran into the fists of Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov. A result of his smashing was a brawl and Khabib jumping out of the ring to fight some of McGregor's team. Apparently some of the comments made by McGregor's camp were offensive and had to deal with heritage and religion.

The point is tha back in the day the biggest rivalries have been between the followers of Mexican and Philippine fighters. Although Pacquiao lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and has not been in his prime form a battle between the two fighters would be interesting. The Philippines verses Ireland? Hmmmmm!

"I would be interested in an Anderson Silva bout. I swear to God. Anderson is a legend in the game. What's the difference between him and Georges (St-Pierre)? Same damn thing. I'm going to do fights that interest me or have meaning," McGregor responded to the question who would he like to fight.

If Pacquiao is not box office enough for Connor perhaps his money fight would be a third match with Nate Diaz who kicked his ass twice but tired in the second encounter. Now that's a fight many would like to see, agree or not?

NBA TRIVIA

The 2018-19 NBA Roster Survey compiles data on all 30 opening-night rosters. The results include:

Average Height: 6-7

Average Weight: 219 lbs

Average Age: 26.41

THIS DAY IN THE NBA

November 30, 1977 Lenny Wilkens replaced Bob Hopkins as coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, who at that time had a 5-17 record. Under Wilkens, the Sonics went 42-18 for the rest of the season and made it all the way to the NBA Finals, where they lost in seven games to the Washington Bullets.

November 30, 1990 Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird scored his 20,000th career point in the Celtics’ 123-95 win over Washington at the Garden. At the time, Bird became only the fifth player in league history (along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Havlicek, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West) to gather 20,000 points, 5,000 rebounds and 5,000 assists in his playing career.

November 30, 1996 Michael Jordan became the 10th player in NBA history to reach 25,000 points after scoring 35 in the Bulls 97-88 win at the Spurs. Jordan reached 25,000 in 782 games, faster than any other player but Wilt Chamberlain (691).

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