49ers' Christian McCaffrey makes personal admission amid training camp
Running back Christian McCaffrey and San Francisco 49ers want nothing more than to redeem themselves after an abysmal performance last season. They missed the playoffs after winning only six games despite coming off an appearance in the Super Bowl a year before.
The 49ers were stricken by injuries in their forgettable campaign, and it looks like the situation remains bleak for the upcoming season with several players sidelined, including Brandon Aiyuk, Jauan Jennings, Kyle Juszczyk, and Isaac Guerendo.
A silver lining, however, is the return of McCaffrey. He was limited to just four games last season after tearing the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Now, it seems he has fully recovered.
An added inspiration for the 49ers star is his newborn daughter with his wife, model and actress Olivia Culpo, who gave birth last month. McCaffrey, however, admitted that he sometimes feels uneasy about his life amid training camp.
'(Culpo's) been great, man. You know, she's been so cool. Her mom came out and my mom came out and helped her out. I feel guilty at times. I'm sleeping well in the hotel bedroom while she's doing the dirty work, but (I'm) super thankful for her and she's doing an incredible job,' said the former Offensive Player of the Year in an interview with the NFL Network.
McCaffrey and Culpo started dating in 2019, including vacationing together in Mexico. A few months later, they made it official. They got engaged in 2023 and got married a year later in Rhode Island.
Being a first-time dad has coincided with McCaffrey's comeback journey, and the three-time All-Pro First Team member wouldn't exchange it for anything, especially with Culpo fully supporting him.
'It's been incredible. You know, getting done with practice, whether you had a good day or a bad day, just being able to go there and see your daughter, it's very special,' added the 49ers star.
'My wife and our families do such a good job of helping out when needed and allowing me to still train and keep football first.'
Related: 49ers' George Kittle airs strong reaction to NFL's ban on smelling salts
Related: 49ers' George Kittle jokingly threatens retirement after smelling salt ban
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16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
College football preseason poll ranking errors include Tennessee, Oklahoma, Clemson
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The Tigers aren't just contenders inside the ACC. They're national championship contenders. Florida Coaches: No. 17 AP: No. 15 Who got it right?: Coaches Both poll services overrated the Gators, but the coaches came closer to the mark. Florida ended last season playing well. DJ Lagway is one of the nation's most promising quarterbacks, but he rehabbed injuries throughout the offseason, and after an underwhelming transfer haul, I question whether Lagway enjoys enough support on either side of the ball to justify these rankings in the face of a daunting schedule. Texas A&M Coaches: No. 21 AP: No. 19 Who got it right?: Coaches Texas A&M being overrated is an August tradition. The Aggies were ranked in the preseason polls in each of the past six years. They finished the season ranked only twice during that span, and only once did they finish higher than their preseason ranking. That doesn't mean these Aggies will stink. They're equipped with a solid offensive line and a strong backfield. But, combine how they buckled at the end of last season with their history of failing to meet projections, and the AP awarded too much respect. Kansas State Coaches: No. 20 AP: No. 17 Who got it right?: AP Kansas State unraveled last November but still finished 9-4, and the Wildcats returned a bulk of their production, including quarterback Avery Johnson. That helps explain why the Wildcats are an oddsmaker front-runner to win the Big 12. Kansas State's run game and rushing defense each should rank near the top of its conference. The coaches underrated the Wildcats, and the media corrected that. Brigham Young Coaches: No. 23 AP: Unranked Who got it right?: AP The coaches' ranking is out of touch with the reality that the Cougars' planned starting quarterback, Jake Retzlaff, transferred to Tulane this summer, rather than face an honor code suspension at BYU. Given that late roster twist, a different Big 12 team, Baylor, would be a better choice in the rankings than BYU. 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The AP ranking might be a smidge lofty for a team facing Oklahoma's brutal schedule, but it's closer to the mark than the Sooners being omitted from the coaches poll, where they received the most points among unranked teams. Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@ and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football preseason poll rankings errors for eight teams
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16 minutes ago
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18 minutes ago
- CNN
A UFC fight at the White House? Dana White says it's happening
Media Donald TrumpFacebookTweetLink Follow Hours after Paramount and UFC announced a billion-dollar rights deal, Dana White said he had yet to hear from his friend, President Donald Trump, on his thoughts about the fight company's new streaming home. That was fine with White. The UFC CEO was set to travel to Washington on August 28 to meet with Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, to catch up and discuss logistics on the proposed Fourth of July fight card next year at the White House. Trump said last month he wanted to stage a UFC match on the White House grounds with upwards of 20,000 spectators to celebrate 250 years of American independence. 'It's absolutely going to happen,' White told The Associated Press. 'Think about that, the 250th birthday of the United States of America, the UFC will be on the White House south lawn live on CBS.' The idea of cage fights at the White House would have seemed improbable when the Fertitta brothers purchased UFC for $2 million in 2001 and put White in charge of the fledging fight promotion. White helped steer the company into a $4 billion sale in 2016 and broadcast rights deals with Fox and ESPN before landing owner TKO Group's richest one yet — a seven-year deal with Paramount starting in 2026 worth an average of $1.1 billion a year, with all cards on its streaming platform Paramount+ and select numbered events also set to simulcast on CBS. ESPN, Amazon and Netflix and other traditional sports broadcast players seemed more in play for UFC rights — White had previously hinted fights could air across different platforms — but Paramount was a serious contender from the start of the negotiating window. The Paramount and UFC deal came just days after Skydance and Paramount officially closed their $8 billion merger — kicking off the reign of a new entertainment giant after a contentious endeavor to get the transaction over the finish line. White said he was impressed with the vision Skydance CEO David Ellison had for the the global MMA leader early in contract talks and how those plans should blossom now that Ellison is chairman and CEO of Paramount. 'When you talk about Paramount, you talk about David Ellison, they're brilliant businessmen, very aggressive, risk takers,' White said. 'They're right up my alley. These are the kind of guys that I like to be in business with.' The $1.1 billion deals marks a notable jump from the roughly $550 million that ESPN paid each year for UFC coverage today. But UFC's new home on Paramount will simplify offerings for fans — with all content set to be available on Paramount+ (which currently costs between $7.99 and $12.99 a month), rather than various pay-per-view fees. Paramount also said it intends to explore UFC rights outside the US 'as they become available in the future.' UFC matchmakers were set to meet this week to shape what White said would be a loaded debut Paramount card. The UFC boss noted it was still too early to discuss a potential main event for the White House fight night. 'This is a 1-of-1 event,' White said. There are still some moving parts to UFC broadcasts and other television programming it has its hands in as the company moves into the Paramount era. White said there are still moving parts to the deal and that includes potentially finding new homes for 'The Ultimate Fighter,' 'Road To UFC,' and 'Dana White's Contender Series.' It's not necessarily a given the traditional 10 p.m. start time for what were the pay-per-view events would stand, especially on nights cards will also air on CBS. 'We haven't figured that out yet but we will,' White said. And what about the sometimes-contentious issue of fighter pay? Some established fighters have clauses in their contracts that they earn more money the higher the buyrate on their cards. Again, most of those issues are to-be-determined as UFC and Paramount settle in to the new deal — with $1.1 billion headed the fight company's way. 'It will affect fighter pay, big time,' White said. 'From deal-to-deal, fighter pay has grown, too. Every time we win, everybody wins.' Boxer Jake Paul wrote on social media the dying PPV model — which was overpriced for fights as UFC saw a decline in buys because of missing star power in many main events — should give the fighters an increased idea of their worth. 'Every fighter in the UFC now has a clear picture of what the revenue is…no more PPV excuses,' Paul wrote. 'Get your worth boys and girls.' White also scoffed at the idea that the traditional PPV model is dead. There are still UFC cards on pay-per-view the rest of the year through the end of the ESPN contract and White and Saudi Arabia have teamed to launch a new boxing venture that starts next year and could use a PPV home. White, though, is part of the promotional team for the Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford fight in September in Las Vegas that airs on Netflix. 'It's definitely not run it's course,' White said. 'There were guys out there who were interested in pay-per-view and there were guys out there that weren't. Wherever we ended up, that's what we're going to roll with.' White said UFC archival footage 'kills it' in repeat views and those classic bouts also needed a new home once the ESPN deal expires. Just when it seems there's little left for UFC to conquer, White says, there's always more. Why stop at becoming the biggest fight game in the world? Why not rewrite the pecking order in popularity and riches and go for No. 1 in all sports? 'You have the NFL, the NBA, the UFC, and soccer globally,' White said. 'We're coming. We're coming for all of them.'
