That time Kyle Shanahan baby-sat Christian McCaffrey

Kyle Shanahan is getting all sorts of good press this week. First we got to see the fact that he sometimes speaks like we do and apologizing later. Go watch that first if you want a laugh. We also know he’s been around football and football players for much of his life, which leads to some pretty funny stories. During his first press conference, Shanahan recalled staying up late at 49ers training camps as a kid nursing a 2-year ping-pong losing streak to John Taylor. Once Shanahan finally beat Taylor, Taylor announced he was going to use his right hand.

Well, add a bit more to Shanahan’s backstory in Christian McCaffrey. In his call to the Bay Area media, the question about what the 49ers did during McCaffrey’s lead-up to the draft was asked. At first it was a standard response, and McCaffrey had the impression the team wasn’t going to select him, but then McCaffrey opened up a bit more on his relationship with Shanahan:

We go way back when I was little, I think he baby-sat me a couple times.

Shanahan was asked about this, and did not quite recall it, but did acknowledged Christian’s dad Ed was his hero growing up:

“If I did, I probably left my sister to do it very quickly and moved on. His dad was my hero growing up. I was close with [former NFL WR] Ed [McCaffrey] and his wife Lisa. That’s really why I wore 87 in college. Ed was the man. I knew all his sons. They were a lot younger when I knew them, but they’ve all turned out to be pretty good athletes and real good people.”

I’d imagine Ed and Lisa McCaffrey would be the ones most likely to confirm this story, but seeing Shanahan as a baby sitter is quite an amusing image. I’d think teenage Shanahan would be sitting there watching film while young McCaffrey tore up the house. Of course, it didn’t stop there, they asked what kind of babysitter Shanahan was and McCaffrey simply responded that he was so young, he doesn’t remember.

Knowing that, it projects an image of teenage Shanahan reading a playbook while rocking a baby basket with his foot.

Needless to say, I don’t think this is the last we’ll hear of Kyle Shanahan stories about his past escapades with NFL players.