In many ways, the 1985 football season was anything but what Ed McCaffrey had hoped it would be.
In the Central Catholic season opener against city rival Allen, the 6-6, 220-pound Viking quarterback, who was a prime target of all opposing defenses because of his reputation, suffered a shoulder separation. “It didn’t happen on any one play; it was a series of plays,” he remembers.
Not willing to risk the possibility of losing touch with the college coaches who had begun showing an interest in him during his sophomore year, McCaffrey toughed it out.
After sitting out three full games, he came back and “continued playing with the separated shoulder for three games,” he said. “But when the doctor told me I could just keep getting injured worse and worse, I finally considered my health and decided to sit out. Believe me, it was hard not to play.”
When all was said and done, he had played in just five of Central Catholic’s 11 games – and never at full capacity after the opening night. And to top things off, the Vikings managed to win only two of 11 games during the campaign.
“There’s no doubt that, had he had a full season he would have been the dominant player in the league,” said Dick Butler, the CCHS coach who has since resigned the position. “How important was he? Well, when he played, we won two of four.”
The injury may have ruined him statistically, but it didn’t do anything to dull his reputation. That is proven virtually every day as Division 1 college coaches bid for his signature on a national letter of intent. And it has been proven by his selection to the 23rd Parade Magazine All-America High School Football Team, which is named in the magazine that accompanies today’s Morning Call.
“Being named as an all-American came as a big surprise to me,” the talented Viking senior admitted, “because I thought that being hurt part of the season might hinder my chances. I’m proud to be considered with so many great players.”
Actually, McCaffrey, whose high school football career has included playing quarterback, running back, tight end and wide receiver on offense and safety and outside linebacker on defense, was being modest. In the Parade story, he is said to be “the leading tight end” in the country. He is one of just two Pennsylvanians – the other is Carlisle running back Michael Owens – among the 47 all-Americans.
It’s been a hectic year in many ways for the oldest of the five children born to Ed and Elizabeth McCaffrey. With a humility that is refreshing to find among an athlete of his caliber, the 17-year-old McCaffrey will only say that “a very large number” of schools have attempted to recruit him. “It (the pressure) has been all right; I haven’t minded it,” he added.
Now, with the help of his parents and the CCHS coaches, headed by Butler, he has narrowed his choices. He already has visited Michigan and Penn State; he has scheduled visits to Purdue and Stanford.
“I will make another visit (the NCAA permits five), but I haven’t decided yet which school it will be,” he said. “For a while, I was receiving many calls, but since I have cut down (the list of schools in which he’s interested), it hasn’t been as hectic.” He said “about seven” schools are still under consideration, declined to name those in the running for his fifth visit – Notre Dame and Boston College are said to be among them – and said, “I’ve appreciated the concern and cooperation all the coaches recruiting me have given me.”
He said that most of the major-college coaches have expressed an interest in him as a tight end or a wide receiver. The fact that he was clocked a 4.5 seconds for the 40-yard dash during a camp last summer at Penn State indicates he could be a wide receiver. His size make him a prime candidate as a tight end.
“I enjoy playing both offense and defense, but I feel I’m probably better on offense,” he admitted.
Now, all this attention would be be pressure enough if it was the only thing McCaffrey had to worry about. But the fact is he is considered the premier basketball player in the East Penn Conference, too, and he’s being wooed by still another set of major-college coaches in that sport.
“It has taken up a great deal of time, but none of which I have minded,” McCaffrey said. “I enjoy playing both sports and would rather not say (which he prefers), but I have definitely decided to play just one or the other in college.
“The schools I have mentioned (Michigan, Penn State, Purdue and Stanford) are strictly for football. A lot of basketball coaches are recruiting, too, and that could be another set of visits. I’ve spoken personally with the coaches of the basketball schools I am interested in, and I will have a decision by February.” National Letter of Intent Day is Feb. 12.
As a freshman and sophomore. McCaffrey was a three-sport athlete, also playing baseball. He has since dropped the spring sport to concentrate on the other two. He said that he currently weighs 218 and added, “As a freshman, that’ll be a good weight, but I plan to weigh about 245 by the time I graduate (from college). I plan to get on a good weight program following basketball season; I haven’t lifted many weights in the past because of playing several sports.”
In thinking beyond college, McCaffrey, who intends to study medicine, said, “I plan to go to school first to get a (undergraduate) degree. If I’m fortunate enough to have professional sports enter my life at that point, it’ll be really great. But I’m not counting on it.”
McCaffrey was born in Waynesboro, Va. The family later moved to Wilmington, N.C., where he began playing in a midget program as an 85-pounder. The McCaffreys came to the Lehigh Valley when Ed was in seventh grade; and he played varsity basketball at Emmaus High School as a freshman before transferring to Central Catholic.
His dad, who is 6-2, played high school football and basketball and played college basketball as a freshman. His sister, Monica, is a CCHS junior and leader on the Vikette basketball team; and a brother, Bill, is a freshman playing on the CCHS junior varsity basketball team. Another brother, Michael, is a fourth-grader; and sister Meghan is four years old.
While admitting that “sports takes up pretty much of my time,” he also finds time to do well in the classroom. He’s had five B’s and the rest A’s during his high school career, ranks 42nd in a class of 231 and is a member of the National Honor Society. He also is active in the youth group at St. Thomas More Church.
He was named to the East Penn Football Conference offensive first team as a sophomore and a junior and to the second team as a senior; and during the 1984-85 basketball season, he was scoring champion, Most Valuable Player and first team all-EPC. At this point, he considers the highlight of his high school career to have been the PIAA Class AAA state championship won by the Viking basketball team during his sophomore year.
Butler tells the story of the Purdue assistant coach who showed up at a Central Catholic practice session during the fall.
“He just sat in the background and watched, and when practice was over, he came to me and said, ‘Coach, this may sound silly; I’ve been all over the country, but you and I may be looking at a future first-round (pro) draft choice, if you can say project something like that.”‘
And so, it seems, the brightest moments still lie ahead for Ed McCaffrey.
