Christian McCaffrey joins elite company with his 100th career touchdown

Audio By Carbonatix

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Christian McCaffrey put himself in some elite company with two short touchdown runs.

McCaffrey's two 1-yard TDs in a 35-13 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday made him the fourth-fastest player in the Super Bowl era to reach 100 career touchdowns and the third player ever with at least 50 TDs with two franchises.

“It means a lot,” McCaffrey said. “It's a blessing to be able to play this game and stuff like that is always cool. But it's always about the team and showing up and doing your job.”

McCaffrey didn't have to do a lot on Sunday, a day when Brock Purdy and the rest of the offense was clicking at such a high level that the Niners scored touchdowns on their first five drives.

McCaffrey started it with a 1-yard run in the first quarter and capped the scoring for San Francisco late in the third when he scored again from 1-yard out. He finished with 23 yards on 10 carries and four catches for 43 yards.

“CMC, he’s just the GOAT,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “GOATs do things like that. It’s just another day at the office for old Christian. But nobody works harder on their craft and is as dedicated to the game as Christian. Everything that he does, he’s earned it and he’s only going to continue to keep getting better.”

The scores gave him 64 rushing touchdowns and 36 receiving in 114 regular-season games for Carolina and San Francisco. Only LaDainian Tomlinson (89 games), Emmitt Smith (93) and Shaun Alexander (96) got to 100 TDs faster in the Super Bowl era.

McCaffrey, who has 50 touchdowns with both Carolina and San Francisco, joined Marshall Faulk and Randy Moss as the only players to score at least 50 TDs with two franchises.

“It’s kind of crazy to hear that,” McCaffrey said. “I watched all those guys growing up. Marshall Faulk was somebody that I’ve probably seen every single snap he’s played. I don’t take it for granted. Randy Moss I played with a ton of times with Madden growing up. Those are huge, huge honors.”

McCaffrey's career is full of noteworthy accomplishments already. He became the third player ever with at least 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season in 2019 with Carolina, has earned first-team All-Pro honors in three seasons, and won the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 and Comeback Player of the Year in 2025.

“It’s crazy. I grew up watching him in high school and stuff when he was at Stanford and then the Panthers and then to be a teammate with him and be there when he scored his 100th touchdown was insane,” Purdy said. "It’s really cool to think about that. To be on his team and be a teammate with him and go and help him do what he wants to do with his career and just be there and feed him the ball and stuff, it’s an honor for me."

___

See AP’s full NFL coverage here