Denver Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey made it official today: He announced his retirement from pro football after 13 seasons.
McCaffrey, who was a Bronco through nine seasons and two Super Bowl victories, made the announcement at a news conference at Broncos headquarters in Dove Valley, joined by his wife, Lisa, and his children.
He paid tribute to his teammates over the years, including former quarterback John Elway. "When we took the field, we took the field together," he said. " ... The memories we made will last a lifetime. I thank you all for being a part of my dream."
Defensive backs and Broncos quarterbacks will need to find a new favorite target. Wide receiver Ed McCaffrey will not be around for either.
Unwilling to play for another franchise or risk more trauma to his brain, McCaffrey is expected to announce his retirement today, a source close to the nine-year Bronco confirmed. McCaffrey did not return phone calls seeking comment.
His final out route took him to a local steakhouse, where McCaffrey huddled with family and friends Monday night for a farewell-to-football party.
McCaffrey's sendoff will continue today at Broncos headquarters, where the team has scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference for the former Pro Bowl player.
Another link to the Broncos' champ- ionship teams is history.
"He was Mr. Reliable, and consistency was his middle name," said Broncos wide receivers coach Steve Watson, whose 353 career catches are 109 fewer than McCaffrey's 462 with Denver. "When you needed a big play, when you needed a guy to set somebody up with a double move, when you needed somebody working the whole game to move the chains, Ed was your guy."
For nine seasons, McCaffrey was the receiver Denver turned to in the clutch. But last season, his physical ailments outnumbered his touchdown catches. He suffered two concussions in his final three games, battled knee tendinitis and struggled through a torn quadriceps, all while catching 19 passes and scoring no touchdowns.
Rather than accept a restructured contract for the second consecutive year, McCaffrey, 35, opted for retirement.
The fourth-leading receiver in Broncos history, the star of regional McDonald's commercials, the man who produced his own mustard line, breakfast cereal, salad dressing, sandwich spread and macaroni-and-cheese dish will have a chance to relish all his unlikely accomplishments.
"He had a lot of respect on our team and from the coaches just because of his work ethic," Broncos offensive tackle Matt Lepsis said. "Ed was one of those guys who didn't say a word and just went out and played hard. He'd take shots and come back when a lot of other players wouldn't."
It was one reason so many fans embraced him. Hit harder and more often than almost any other Bronco, McCaffrey was a human TV timeout waiting to happen, with a bull's-eye and grass stains covering his uniform.
"People can relate to somebody working hard and just taking a beating," McCaffrey said in 2002. "Everyone in life gets knocked down and has to get back up again. It's just that in football you get to see that lived out in three hours."
The Broncos considered themselves fortunate to see McCaffrey live out his career in Colorado. Had the 49ers been just a bit smarter, it never would have happened. After Denver offered McCaffrey, then a seldom-used San Francisco wide receiver, a $200,000 signing bonus in March 1995, his agent asked the 49ers if they wanted to match the offer.
"I was incredulous the 49ers did not want to come up with that sum of money to keep him," recalled Don Yee, who brokered McCaffrey's first Denver deal. "But they said no because they were going to draft J.J. Stokes."
The day after McCaffrey signed his contract with the Broncos, the March 8, 1995, Denver Post story was headlined, "Niners lose 3 players to Broncos."
The story dealt as much with the Broncos' acquisition of quarterback Bill Musgrave and fullback John Ivlow as it did McCaffrey. The story did detail that Broncos coach Mike Shanahan was interested in McCaffrey because, at 6-feet-4 1/2, he was considerably taller than the Broncos' other wideouts, Anthony Miller and Mike Pritchard, both 5-11.
"Anytime you've got a guy who has that size and speed, it makes it much easier for a quarterback," Shanahan said in March 1995. "He's going to be able to play a lot of positions. He's played wide receiver, he's played tight end in the three-wide look and he's also played halfback in the four-wide look."
McCaffrey's work habits enabled him to distinguish himself and eventually supplant Miller and Pritchard.
"They talk about good fishermen, and how the difference between a good fisherman and a bad fisherman is the time spent off the water," Musgrave, now the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive coordinator, said Monday.
"That's what I think about Ed. He spends much more time off the water getting his body ready and studying film and thinking about how he's going to be able to get open than when he's on the water. I think that's how he was effective, because he's not as fast or as talented as other receivers. But yet he gets away from defensive backs just as readily."
Some of what Musgrave teaches the Jaguars' receivers are traits he learned from McCaffrey - dubbed "Forrest Gump" for the way he ran - during the year they played together in San Francisco and the two years they were teammates in Denver.
"When he does run, he focuses on his posture," Musgrave said about McCaffrey. "That's one thing. What I talk to my receivers about now as a coach, I learned that from Ed. Your posture when you're running; you want it to be the same whether you're about to stop or continue on a 50-yard go route.
"People thought Ed looked funny, but he was doing that with a purpose to make his posture look similar so the defensive back didn't know whether he was stopping or going. Ed may have looked a little wacky, but other receivers would give indicators as to whether they would break right, break left, keep going or stop, whereas Ed spent more time off the water. He wanted it to look all the same."
For much of his career in Denver, it did, but McCaffrey never regained the form he demonstrated the night Invesco Field at Mile High opened. On Sept. 10, 2001, Giants safety Shaun Williams plowed into McCaffrey's leg. It snapped like a stick. Ten hours after his mini-personal tragedy, a national tragedy unfolded.
After season-ending and career-changing surgery, McCaffrey awakened to TV images of airplanes flying into the World Trade Center.
"I thought I had to be dreaming," McCaffrey said at the time. "It seemed like it should be in a movie, not life. It's hard to believe it could get any worse after breaking your leg and having the season end for me. Then you put on the TV and find out things are exponentially worse around the world. It was just disbelief, a horrible feeling. I have never felt that bad during my lifetime."
Through the years
Born
Aug. 17, 1968, in Waynesboro, Pa.
High school
Central Catholic High School, Allentown, Pa. McCaffrey was an All-America football player, the MVP in baseball with a .540 batting average, and averaged 21.3 points in basketball.
College
Stanford. He made 146 career receptions for 2,333 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Pro career before Denver
He was the New York Giants' third-round pick in 1991, as the 83rd overall selection. He played three seasons for New York, making four starts, before being cut. He played one season for San Francisco, catching 11 passes for 131 yards and winning a Super Bowl ring.
Pro career in Denver
1995 - Started five games. His most notable start came in the regular-season finale, when he caught what was then a career-high nine passes for 99 yards and one touchdown to help Denver to a 31-28 victory that knocked the Raiders out of the playoffs.
1996 - Started 15-of-16 games and caught a dramatic fourth-quarter, 5-yard touchdown pass at Minnesota that bounced off three Vikings defenders.
1997 - On the way to the Broncos' first Super Bowl victory, McCaffrey caught what was then a career-best eight touchdown passes, two in one game against the Seahawks and two in another against the Chargers. Against the Seahawks, McCaffrey provided Seahawks rookie cornerback Shawn Springs with his NFL indoctrination. But his best play might have been the block he put on Packers linebacker Brian Williams in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXII. It helped free fullback Howard Griffith on what turned out to be Denver's game-winning drive.
1998 - McCaffrey enjoyed his first Pro Bowl season, as well as his first 1,000-plus yards receiving season. McCaffrey had 64 catches for 1,053 yards and a career-best 10 touchdowns. In the postseason, McCaffrey caught 11 passes for 190 yards.
1999 - In a year when Denver's offense struggled, McCaffrey posted his second consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season. His best game came against Green Bay, when he caught five passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns, including one that went for a career-long 78 yards.
2000 - McCaffrey had his third consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season - 1,317 yards, to be exact. McCaffrey caught 10 passes in three games that season: at San Diego, vs. Cincinnati and vs. San Diego.
2001 - This was the beginning of the end for McCaffrey. In Denver's season-opening victory over the Giants, McCaffrey suffered a broken leg and missed the remainder of the season.
2002 - Though starting 16 games, McCaffrey struggled to regain his form. He caught 69 passes for 903 yards and two touchdowns.
2003 - A series of injuries marred the season, including two concussions in Denver's final three games.
2004 - A news conference is called at Broncos headquarters for today, presumably to announce McCaffrey's retirement after 13 NFL seasons.
Career numbers
Click here.
McCaffrey's greatest hits
Wide receiver Ed McCaffrey became a beloved Bronco in part because he could take a licking and keep on ticking. Time after time, McCaffrey was knocked to the ground by blows that seemed likely to knock other players out of the game. At home games McCaffrey eventually would rise to chants of "Ed-die! Ed-die!" His wife, Lisa, could barely watch, but during the 2002 season she and McCaffrey offered a list of his five greatest hits:
1) Dec. 27, 1992, at Philadelphia - The hardest hit delivered to McCaffrey came compliments of the ground. While playing for the New York Giants,
McCaffrey crossed the middle against Philadelphia's defense during the last game of the Giants' 6-10 season. McCaffrey had his legs taken out from under him, flipped in the air and landed squarely on his head before crumpling to the ground.
2) Sept. 29, 1996, at Cincinnati - McCaffrey never took more big shots in one game. In the first quarter, after catching a 34-yard pass, McCaffrey was leveled by Bengals safety Bo Orlando. It was the first of three times McCaffrey was flattened. "I was thinking to myself, 'The TV sponsors must love my husband,"' Lisa McCaffrey said. "It was, 'Oh, McCaffrey's down, let's go to a commercial break.' 'Oh, he's down again, another commercial break.' And again, another break. He made so much money for the NFL that day."
3) Sept. 10, 2001, at Denver - McCaffrey said he was responsible for the most damaging hit of his career, but didn't come to that conclusion until he watched the replays of his collision with Giants safety Shaun Williams. "I had to watch the film twice to figure out how it happened," said McCaffrey, who suffered a season- ending fractured tibia and fibula on the play. "It basically happened by both of us kicking legs in midair. But it was more of me kicking him than him kicking me. I caught the ball and I tried to whip my leg around to start running again, like maybe I could land on my feet. When I did that, I kicked him right above his knee. Had I not tried to get my leg around to land on my feet, had I just got hit and fell backwards, nothing would have happened."
4) Sept. 22, 2002, at Denver - As the pass floated in the air, almost everybody at Invesco Field at Mile High could see Bills safety Pierson Prioleau lining up a kill shot. Even McCaffrey could. "That's why he grabbed the football so hard," Lisa McCaffrey said. When Prioleau decked McCaffrey, the fans went silent. "I think everyone in the stadium (gasps)," Broncos quarterback Brian Griese said about the sight of McCaffrey being leveled again. "Then it's kind of like Lazarus rising from the dead when everybody starts chanting and he finally gets up." McCaffrey went running off the field like the hit never happened.
5) Jan. 25 1998, at San Diego - McCaffrey landed the blow instead of absorbing it. Late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXII, McCaffrey threw a crushing block on Packers linebacker Brian Williams, freeing fullback Howard Griffith for the bulk of his yardage on a 23-yard reception that set up Denver's game-winning touchdown. After the block, the normally polite and reserved McCaffrey stood over Williams, pointing at his victim. "That was very unlike Ed," Lisa McCaffrey said. "But our son Christian was 2 years old at the time, and he kept saying, 'No, no, no.' And Ed doesn't curse, so that was Ed trash-talking. He pointed at (Williams) and yelled, 'No, no, no."'
Caught in a numbers game
Career highlights of Broncos wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, who is expected to announce today he is retiring:
* Reached 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his career in 1998 and was named to his first Pro Bowl team.
* Caught 101 passes for 1,317 yards in 2000. The 101 receptions rank second in team history for a single season.
* One of 15 players in NFL history to win a Super Bowl in both conferences: 1994 season with the San Francisco 49ers (NFC) and 1997 and 1998 with the Broncos (AFC).
* Ranks fourth in Broncos career receptions with 462 and third in team career touchdown catches with 46.
Wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, a fan favorite and member of the Denver Broncos' back-to-back Super Bowl championship teams, announced his retirement Tuesday after 13 years in the NFL.
McCaffrey said the decision was right for his career and his family. "I am proud to retire as a Denver Bronco," McCaffrey said.
Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen called the day bittersweet for the team and the fans. "He is going to be remembered by me and by most of the fans here as the bravest and most courageous player to play for the team,'' he said.
McCaffrey, 35, was one of former quarterback John Elway's main targets during his nine years with Denver. His role changed, however, with the emergence of receiver Ashley Lelie.
Injuries have also reduced his time on the field. He broke his leg in the first game of 2001, but returned the next season to catch 69 passes for 903 yards.
Last season, McCaffrey had two concussions in three weeks last season.
The Broncos also have told McCaffrey they wanted to cut his $4.5 million base salary for next season to help get under the salary cap.
McCaffrey, clean-cut and humble was a tireless worker. That has helped make him the most popular Broncos player since Elway retired. On the first day of training camp last year, about 1,000 fans sitting in the makeshift stands broke into a chant of "Eddie! Eddie!'' when he almost -- that's right, almost -- caught a pass.
The Broncos acquired McCaffrey from San Francisco in 1995 as an unrestricted free agent. He earned a Super Bowl ring while with the 49ers.
In his last act as a Bronco, Ed McCaffrey provided one of the most unlikely accomplishments of his memorable career.
He made Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, usually the model of poise, weep.
When asked how McCaffrey's retirement affected him, Shanahan could not finish his answer. After whispering, "It's tough, it's really tough," Shanahan dabbed his eyes and stepped down from the podium before he broke down.
For the final time as a Bronco, McCaffrey was floored.
"That was surprising, unbelievably surprising," said McCaffrey, who had spent one season with Shanahan in San Francisco and nine more in Denver. "I'll be honest. I had to look at the ceiling to keep from crying. I had done so well all day at keeping my composure, and at that point, I just about lost it. I couldn't even look him in the eye, or I would have totally lost it."
Instead, the Broncos lost McCaffrey. After 565 catches, 55 touchdown receptions, 13 NFL seasons, three Super Bowl rings and one Pro Bowl selection, McCaffrey announced his retirement Tuesday at the team's training complex.
"I really wasn't aware that I was retiring," kidded McCaffrey, who became known as Denver's favorite pitchman and receiver. "I was actually going to announce Big Mac Mondays through the month of March. With every Big Mac, you get a free teeth whitening."
Though doctors last week cleared the recently concussion- prone McCaffrey to play another season, he opted against it. He preferred to walk away from the game now, as a Bronco, with his health, ready to spend more time with his wife, Lisa, and their four sons.
"I'm a little nervous about leaving football because 'coach Lisa' is a lot tougher than coach Shana- han at times," McCaffrey said. "She's got a much bigger playbook, and a much earlier curfew, as I found out the other day."
McCaffrey could find his way back to local television, where he has co-hosted a show in recent seasons on KMGH-Channel 7.
But others said that no matter how McCaffrey chooses to spend his post-football years, he will have a sense of where he belongs.
"His biggest challenge was sitting right there on the stage with him," said Rod Smith, McCaffrey's friend and fellow receiver. "It's raising those four boys and (being with) his wife. That's going to be the biggest game he's going to ever play. And he's going to do a great job at that, just like he did with this."
McCaffrey's wife has plans for them, aside from the vacation in Mexico they plan to take with Broncos quarterback Steve Beuerlein and his wife.
"Now we're going to go to training camp and just heckle the team," said Lisa, who helped plan her husband's farewell-to-football party Monday night at a local steakhouse. "We're going to yell, 'Rod, you're slow!' 'C'mon, Jake, get it together!' 'Mike, that's the worst call ever!"'
Yet before McCaffrey heckles the organization that lured him away from the San Francisco 49ers in 1995 with a $200,000 signing bonus, he saluted it Tuesday. McCaffrey spent nearly 30 minutes thanking almost everyone in the Broncos' organization - by name.
He reserved his biggest thanks for Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, Shanahan and former quarterback John Elway.
McCaffrey called Bowlen "the greatest owner in the NFL," he referred to Shanahan as the coach who "saw something in me that no one else did," and Elway as the quarterback who dislocated McCaffrey's fingers with practice passes.
The Broncos have the heavy burden of trying to replace McCaffrey, not just one of the franchise's all-time best receivers, but also one of their better blockers.
"He is going to be remembered by me and by most of the fans here as the bravest and most courageous player to play for the team," Bowlen said.
"I heard a few of the questions earlier of people trying to say he's going to be remembered as a guy who takes a lot of big hits," Smith said. "Remember the stuff he's done, the catches, the yards, the touchdowns. Remember the Super Bowl rings. Remember the key blocks to spring (Terrell Davis') long runs. Remember those things.
"Don't remember Ed as a guy who got knocked down a lot and had concussions, because that's not him. He's a guy who used every ounce of athletic ability he had, who used all the mental ability he had, and he used it all on every snap. Remember that. That's what made him great."
03-02-2004 09:37 PM
