San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey makes his living chasing yards and touchdowns. Away from the field, the 49ers star is chasing a far heavier number.
While researching how to help veterans, McCaffrey came across a statistic he could not ignore. The older estimate put the toll at 22 veterans lost to suicide each day.
“That’s why I’m doing this. I’m trying to chop down that number as much as possible,” McCaffrey said.
Newer Department of Veterans Affairs data shows 17.7 veteran suicides per day in 2024.
McCaffrey launched 23 and Troops in 2021 through the Christian McCaffrey Foundation. The program helps Special Operations veterans recover from post-traumatic stress.
Its goal is to give them the same level of care that athletes receive.
By the February award announcement, the foundation has directed nearly $700,000 to military causes. REBOOT Recovery and Resilience Code each received $250,000, funding trauma recovery and personalized medical care, respectively.
Around the holidays, the foundation also cleared layaway balances for 515 military families.
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McCaffrey spent his childhood roughly 30 minutes from a military base. His parents taught him to respect the military, and many of his mentors were veterans.
“We get to play a kids’ game for a living, and we play in front of millions of people,” he said.
“And a lot of that is because of the people who have sacrificed for us. And it’s not just the people who have served or are serving, it’s their families, their wives, their husbands, their kids, who have to go through so much, and a lot of it’s unseen. They don’t get credit for this stuff.”
That work earned McCaffrey the NFL’s Salute to Service Award in February. Teammate George Kittle won it the year before, keeping the award inside the 49ers locker room.
On the field, McCaffrey has helped the 49ers open the 2026 season at 6-1.
Through seven games, he has 389 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. The 30-year-old has added 34 catches for 251 receiving yards.
He scored twice and caught nine passes in a Week 6 win over the Washington Commanders. San Francisco won its first six games before falling 29-20 at Atlanta on Sunday.
The number that drives 23 and Troops, though, never appears in a box score.
