The Gist

• Christian McCaffrey has three brothers: Max, Dylan, and Luke McCaffrey. They’re the sons of three-time Super Bowl champion Ed McCaffrey.

• Christian and youngest brother Luke are both currently playing in the NFL for the 49ers and Commanders, respectively, while Max is a coach for the Chargers.

• Dylan played college football at the University of Michigan and the University of Northern Colorado.

The McCaffrey brothers are carrying on a multi-generational football legacy.

Christian McCaffrey and siblings Max, Luke, and Dylan McCaffrey grew up tossing around a football with their father, three-time Super Bowl champion Ed McCaffrey. All four of Ed’s kids inherited his love of the game—and the athletic prowess necessary to forge their own careers in sports. 

Christian and Luke are both currently in the NFL; Christian plays for the San Francisco 49ers, while Luke is with the Washington Commanders. Their older brother Max is a former pro player and current coach. Dylan also played football at the college level, but didn’t follow his siblings into the league.

Football isn’t the only passion they share. In a 2020 ESPN feature, the brothers talked about having a sibling rivalry when it came to video games. One franchise in particular—the NCAA Football series for the original Xbox—can make the competition turn less-than-friendly. “That’s the one that gets us riled up the most,” Dylan said. “If [Christian] wins, I’ll get upset. If I win, he’ll get upset. No matter what, somebody is upset the rest of the day,” he joked.

Games aside, the McCaffreys are a tight-knit bunch and regularly praise one another on social media and in interviews. They’ll also show up for one another’s milestone moments—like when Max, Luke, and Dylan served as groomsmen at Christian’s 2024 wedding to model Olivia Culpo. 

Ahead, find out more about Christian McCaffrey’s three talented brothers.

Max McCaffrey

Ed and Lisa McCaffrey welcomed their first child, son Maxwell “Max” James McCaffrey, on May 17, 1994. He and his younger siblings grew up in Colorado. All four attended Valor Christian High School.

Early on, Max showed talent on the field—with one particular advantage over his famous father. “Max is faster than me,” Ed told USA Todayin 2016. “I’m not afraid to admit it. He’s always been fast. Speed is something I always worked on really hard. He does have some God-given speed and I think that will serve him well.”

 He spent his college football career at Duke as a wide receiver, and signed as an undrafted free agent with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders in 2016. Fans will recall that Max’s dad once played for a rival team, the Denver Broncos. Naturally, Ed had a playfully wistful reaction to the news of his son’s signing, sharing a video to X of a person releasing a deflated Broncos balloon into the sky.

Over the next two years, Max continued his journey with the Packers, Saints, Jaguars, and 49ers on practice squads. He appeared in six regular-season games over the course of his career, according to his player stats on the NFL’s official website. Starting in 2020, Max pivoted to coaching. He worked alongside his father at the University of Northern Colorado before joining the Miami Dolphins as an offensive assistant. In 2026, he was hired by the Los Angeles Chargers as their running backs coach.

As for his personal life, Max is married to Kathleen Messier. The couple got engaged in 2023, announcing the news via a joint post on Instagram. They wed in June 2025. In September 2026, Max and Messier shared that they’d welcomed a daughter named Kinsley Maxwell McCaffrey.

Dylan McCaffrey

Dylan is the third brother of the McCaffrey family, after Max and Christian. He was born on March 25, 1999. 

In high school, Dylan helped Valor Christian make it to the state championship in all four of his seasons and win three titles, according to his athlete bio. He started his college football career at the University of Michigan in 2017, where he was a quarterback. In 2020, he opted out of the season and, the following year, he announced he would be transferring to the University of Northern Colorado to play for his father, per ESPN.

“It’s something that’s definitely unique. I’ve never really been coached by (my dad) before this either. I think it’s an awesome experience,” McCaffrey said in an August 2021 interview with The Denver Post. “I’ve been loving it and enjoying it so far, just having someone you fully trust at the top of the chart there. I think that trust aspect plays a big role in this.”

Unlike his siblings, Dylan did not join the NFL after college. He’s also kept a lower profile than his siblings, with no active public social media presence as of 2026. Nevertheless, he shows up in the occasional Instagram posts made by his proud parents.

In July 2026, Dylan got married. His brother Christian shared photos to Instagram from Dylan’s wedding to now-wife Lauren McCaffrey. Their ceremony was held in Colorado. Siblings Luke and Max were also in attendance, and could be seen smiling with Christian in one picture.

Luke McCaffrey

Ed and Lisa welcomed their fourth and youngest son, Luke McCaffrey, on April 2, 2001.

Luke trained with dad Ed and his older brothers growing up, but he’s also quick to shout out his mom—a former Stanford University soccer player—for her contribution to his athleticism. “I mean, if you want to look at genes alone, my mom ran, I think, a 4.5 40-yard dash pregnant with my brother,” he said in a 2024 interview with the Washington Commanders. “So that’s kind of always our answer when someone asks us, ‘’Where’d you get your athleticism from?’ It’s immediate, all of us will answer ‘our mom.’”

After high school, Luke was an early enrollee for the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He transferred after two seasons to Rice University. In 2024, Luke participated in the NFL draft and was picked by the Washington Commanders. The 2026 season is his third with the team.

In an August interview with WUSA9, the wide receiver was asked what the McCaffrey family group chat is like on NFL Sunday given that he’s with the Commanders, Christian is with the 49ers, and Max is working with the Chargers.

“It’s a little crazy,” he said. “Hopefully, you know, you get three wins between the brothers and then everybody’s happy. I don’t think you could think of a better, more happy group chat…I think everyone that is in this game, no matter what situation, loves it.”

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