Tom Brady thinks San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey should win NFL MVP but what does he think?
The legendary quarterback recently weighed in on his favorite for this year’s NFL MVP. Interestingly, the man he chose thinks it should be his teammate.
It’s not every day that you see two players from the same team favored to win the league’s MVP award. Yet, that’s exactly the case with the San Francisco 49ers as they enter Week 16, with both their running back and quarterback among the favorites to win.
49ers’ Brock Purdy or Christian McCaffrey: What does Tom Brady think?
With NFL’s Week 16 about to kick off, there are two players from the San Francisco 49ers who are currently among the favorites to win MVP: Quarterback Brock Purdy, and running back Christian McCaffrey. To be clear, a non-quarterback hasn’t won NFL MVP since 2012, and it should be said that Purdy is heavily favored to win this year’s award. Sitting just behind San Francisco’s signal caller in the odds, is the Baltimore Ravens own QB, Lamar Jackson, and then Purdy’s teammate, McCaffrey. This is where we come to the opinion of seven-time Super Bowl winner, Tom Brady, who recently sat down with McCaffrey on an episode of his “Let’s Go!” podcast and proceeded to make it clear that it was the running back who is “definitely” the MVP favorite in his opinion.
“I remember the first time I actually got a glimpse of Christian was in the Rose Bowl,” Brady said. “He caught an angle pass against Iowa and ran for about a 75-yard touchdown. I was like, ‘Well, they’re not gonna catch him!’ ...He was a dynamic player then. He is a dynamic player now, and I think all of what he’s done this year is a lot of what he’s done in the past. It’s a different team with some different opportunities and they’ve been really dynamic on offense.”
Tom Brady alludes to the recent running back issue
Another interesting segment of the conversation came when Brady asked McCaffrey if winning the MVP award would be special, considering how much back and forth occurred during the offseason, concerning the running back position and what those who play it are paid.
“Well, I appreciate you saying that, man. That means a lot,” McCaffrey responded. “I don’t get into all the award stuff, but to your point, I just think even being in the conversation is an honor, and specifically for that reason and the timing of it with running backs and some of the stuff, and I think when you look at the history of the NFL and running backs and where we’re at now. Every position other than a couple at some point has kind of had their dips as far as the market goes, and part of it is just fighting against the franchise tag and fighting against different things going on around the league. ...But, you know, I don’t know if that’s why it feels good. It does feel good. Obviously, there’s still a lot of football left and that’s really where my mind’s at. But it’s cool to see a lot of the other running backs who are having a lot of success as well. ...I look at guys around the league who are continuing to have success and that motivates me and continues to push me to compete with them. But also at the same time it’s great for the position.”
Christian McCaffrey gives the nod to Brock Purdy
Despite Brady explaining to McCaffrey that he has an NFL MVP vote this year, one which we can assume he intends to use on the running back, it’s quite something to note that McCaffrey himself told Brady to vote for his quarterback.
“Well, vote for Brock, man. That guy deserves it, man,” McCaffrey said. “I know, obviously you respect that. He’s been unbelievable for this team and I hate when I hear people say anything negative, ‘Oh, he’s just a system quarterback.’ Everyone’s a system quarterback. That’s part of what being a quarterback is in my eyes. I mean, I don’t know much about the position. I try to stay in my lane and just try to get open and block and do all the other things. But I mean, when you play within a system that’s about all you can ask for. And then occasionally you make the plays outside of the X’s and O’s and that’s all he’s done all year. So he gets my vote.”
In case you’re wondering, McCaffrey currently leads the league in scrimmage yards this season with 1,801 and is tied for the NFL lead in touchdowns with 20. Frankly, the 27-year-old has led the NFL in rushing yards at the conclusion of every week of the season up to this point. Should he continue this pace over the last three weeks of the season, he could become the first player in 28 years and just the fourth since the 1970 merger to lead the NFL in rushing after every week of a full season. The three other players on the list are O.J. Simpson, Walter Payton, and Emmitt Smith, all of whom won MVP. Could that be the ky?