Professional athletes are wired differently than most everyday people, so the emotional pendulum swings wildly. When a mistake is made in a big game or big moment, that tends to haunt players for a long time — something that appears to be the case for San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.
McCaffrey, of course, lost a game-changing fumble on the 49ers’ opening drive of Super Bowl LVIII before they ultimately fell to the Kansas City Chiefs, 25-22, in overtime.
That heartbreaking moment lingers, says 49ers running backs coach Bobby Turner.
“I talked to him at the same time it happened when he came off the football field because you have to,” Turner said, via NBC Sports. “You have to be able to let it go, but it’s one of those things you take personally because it’s very important to him. The ball is everything. He is carrying this whole organization — his family, my family. He is carrying that football. It’s heavy.”
Ball security is also a routine point of emphasis for the 49ers, who regularly hold meetings related to the importance of avoiding turnovers.
“I always talk about how much it weighs, how long it is, the nickname on it, ‘The Duke,'” Turner said. “You’re carrying ‘The Duke’ around. [McCaffrey] takes a lot of pride in that. Every time he touches the ball, he is trying to protect it, and unfortunately, that happened.”
McCaffrey certainly isn’t alone in his sorrow. Some of the greatest athletes of all time remember their failures more vividly than their successes.
Future Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Brady, arguably the best quarterback ever, still laments his three Super Bowl losses. In fact, he’s so sour over his Super Bowl XLII loss to the New York Giants that he’d be willing to trade two of his championship rings for that one victory.
For McCaffrey, the pain of that moment will never diminish but it can be turned into fuel. And that’s precisely what the 49ers are hoping for.
