The Carolina Panthers posted a photo of Christian McCaffrey back in April that made it seem like the running back has been training with Arnold Schwarzenegger this offseason, but McCaffrey continues to insist the snapshot was deceiving.
McCaffrey sat down for an interview recently with Sam Alipour of ESPN the Magazine, and he was asked about the viral photo that made people think he has done some massive bulking over the past six months. He said he is entering training camp at his normal playing weight, but admitted he has gotten stronger.
“The internet’s a crazy place. When I came into the league, I was 20, so naturally I’m getting bigger, faster, stronger. But I’m only about a pound or two heavier than last year. I like playing at around 207, and that’s what I’m at right now. But I’m definitely stronger. This is one of the first times that I’ve been able to train for a full offseason because I came out of the season healthy. That makes a huge difference.”
Is McCaffrey just being modest? Here’s the photo:
McCaffrey made similar remarks about the photo earlier in the offseason, and the truth is it doesn’t really matter. He’s obviously in tremendous shape, which is bad news for the rest of the NFC South. McCaffrey broke out in a huge way in his second NFL season, racking up nearly 2,000 total yards from scrimmage and scoring 13 total touchdowns. There’s no reason he can’t match or surpass those numbers in 2019.
