Star 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has a savage mantra.
“Eliminate your feelings.”
He explained the science behind the phrase in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco for the latest edition of “49ers Talk.”
“Feelings don’t really matter in football,” McCaffrey told Maiocco. “Momentum is real, and energy is real, but you need to eliminate your feelings. It’s all about just doing your job at a very high level, and that might change each day. … If you’re not practicing, it means taking care of your body as best as possible; mentally preparing; making sure you’re perfect on every rep in practice; studying. That’s your job.
“How you feel, you’re not always going to feel great, win or lose. Sometimes, you might feel a little weird going into a game; you might feel great going into a game. It doesn’t matter. It’s all about execution [and] how you operate when your number’s called.”
Rain or shine. Pain or gain. Happy or sad.
McCaffrey is right.
Football doesn’t care about feelings. So, from a player’s perspective, it makes sense to eliminate caring for them, even as raw as it sounds.
The mantra especially applies to San Francisco right now. The 49ers are banged up, but they clearly are one of the NFL’s better teams, specifically after their 26-23 Week 5 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Regardless, the pigskin couldn’t care less.
McCaffrey explained how his mantra applies to San Francisco’s 4-1 start to the 2025 NFL season.
“I don’t know,” McCaffrey said when Maiocco asked if it’s harder to respond after an emotional win or an emotional loss. “I think the more you can not focus on whether it’s hard or not — whether it’s easy or hard — it doesn’t matter.”
On any given Sunday, the past doesn’t matter, nor does how you feel. McCaffrey believes that it’s best to enter each game trying to go 1-0 — every time.
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