For 13 years Ed McCaffrey played as a wide receiver for the National Football League (NFL). The teams he was on included New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, and, perhaps most importantly, the Denver Broncos. McCaffrey has been regarded as one of the best blocking wide receivers ever, and his skills helped bring home three Super Bowl championships. But now he’s off the field, cheering for his own sons as they embark on their football careers, and making mustard.
That’s right, you can get mustard and horseradish sauce made by this legend. Well, he doesn’t personally make it, but he put his name on McCaffrey’s Rocky Mountain, and has done so since the 1990s. Plus, he personally taste tested the sauces until perfected. While the brand isn’t new, for the first time those outside of Colorado can get the stuff via a new website and ordering platform.
We met up with McCaffrey to find out more about his love of mustard, where he likes to eat around his home in Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock, and how life is different as a football dad to Max, Christian, Dylan, and Luke McCaffrey, all current or former NFL players, save for Dylan who went into business.
To meet up he picked chef Troy Guard’s #Hashtag in Highlands Ranch. Coffee in hand with a little fan fare around him, McCaffrey dug in.
What’s it like being a football dad now?
We love to go to the games, watch and, have fun. I have the time to do it. So it’s a lot of fun travel all around the country and watch football.
Does it make you nervous to watch your kids on the field?
You know, it’s like when you’re in control or something, you’re not. And you’ll have, like, a good anxiety for the game because you know you’re in control. But when your kids are playing and you don’t have control, you just have to sit back and be ready for anything. You know you’ll love them no matter what and you’re proud of them.
So, why did you want to come to #Hashtag to meet up today?
I like everything on the menu here. It’s pretty delicious. I don’t think you can go wrong. I picked #Hashtag because on Mother’s Day, Lisa [his wife and mother of the four boys] just wanted to stay home and eat good food. None of our kids were here and we had been traveling. So I thought I’d go to #Hashtag and pick some stuff up.
I ordered like half the menu and after I got it, I had forgotten one of the bags. It was so packed in here. They texted me before I got home, but I had ordered so much, I said I was fine without it. It was my fault for not looking at what I picked up.
They refunded my credit card for the amount that I didn’t get. I’m like, I didn’t even ask you to do that. That was just so nice of them. I remember how friendly they were here, and I remember how delicious the food was. That was my first time here. I didn’t even know about #Hashtag, but now I’m a loyal patron.
After ordering a green chile omelet and plate of bread pudding french toast, how, at 6-feet, 5-inches, do you tend to eat?
I can throw down a lot of food, but I can’t do it in the middle of the day. I’ll have to take a nap. So I try and avoid that. I am trying to watch the weight these days. We just got back from our son Christian’s wedding last week, so I had to drop a few pounds leading up to the wedding so I could fit in my tux.
But this [interview] is giving me a good excuse to eat a little more than I would on a typical day.
How and what did you eat when playing for the NFL?
You know, I was so neurotic about my weight and what I ate my whole life because I play professional sports and I naturally gain weight. So, I always try to eat super healthy. I was always eating turkey sandwiches and chicken sandwiches, like you always go out and eat a lot of sandwiches and healthy foods like eggs. I would cook may own eggs and make my own omelet.
How do you make an omelet?
It’s always the three-egg-white omelet. I mean, I like onions and tomatoes, and red peppers. I’d have eggs for breakfast with oatmeal. I had oatmeal all the time because it has some fiber and it’s low-calorie and healthy. Then, maybe a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice. That was breakfast.
Lunch was almost always a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato on toasted sourdough, it was pretty basic. You know, one of the reasons I really love mustard was because it’s a zero-fat, zero-calorie product that made my sandwiches taste better.
Do you ever indulge?
I would usually indulge once a week. Definitely a steak and french fries. Shanahan’s [Steakhouse] has a Dungeness crab starter, which I eat all the time. Shanahan’s is my favorite place to go to dinner. I go there quite often and I order that starter every single time. And steak, I used to be a porterhouse guy, but now I’m more of a bone-in-the-filet guy.
I still try to work out and train, and watch my weight. I just want to be healthy. I want to live healthier.
I mean, you look healthy.
Well, thank you. But I’m certainly not the pro athlete I used to be. And we all get older. So I’m very conscious about trying to be as healthy as I can at my age. But I still want to enjoy life and enjoy good food.
So back to your go-to healthy choice, turkey sandwiches with mustard. How did you end up branding various flavored mustards?
At first I had a cereal, Ed’s End Zone O’s and that was so cool. At least I thought it was cool because it was me jumping through a frosted Cheerio in a football uniform. And, you know, it was an okay, bottom-shelf frosted cereal. I think it was more of a collectible than a food product.
Okay, but at the same time I’m eating super healthy. So we started with spicy brown mustard, which is my favorite mustard.
So for about 30 years you’ve kept the mustard going strong.
I thought it would maybe go the way of the cereal. You know, we’re in a Super Bowl, so maybe it’ll be a collectible. But I use it every day. I love it, and I help this family who I absolutely love. They are a seven-generation mustard maker, and they’re phenomenal at what they do. They’ve helped me mix the right amount of different spices and vinegar.
We tested hundreds of different combinations of mustard. I found the one that I love, and I’m really thankful that they did it because the product stands alone. I mean, today it’s still selling at Kroger [aka King Soopers] and Safeway. It’s not just because people remember that I played, I’m just Christian’s dad to a lot of people. In some circles I’m the mustard guy because this kid’s parents have it and they’re like, oh, you’re the guy on the mustard.
Has it changed much over the years?
We’ve added products over the years, like horseradish sauce. And now we have a chipotle mustard that we sell. In the past we’ve had honey mustard and sriracha mustard. Our brand, McCaffrey Brands, is about high quality, great taste. We try to make good food taste better. And so with all the healthy food I was eating, mustard certainly came in handy for me over the years.
Do you use your mustard?
Oh yeah, every day. Actually, I have some in the car. I didn’t want to bring it in here and put it on their food and insult anybody like that. I often use it on takeout food or leftovers from a restaurant.
But at home I’m more of a grill guy. So hot dogs and hamburgers and brats, that’s a no brainer. Then certainly on chicken and turkey sandwiches. The chipotle mustard you can put on the eggs in the morning.
I know you love steak, would you put your mustard on that?
You know, I have tried it on steak. And, you know, if you go to a really good steakhouse like Shanahan’s, you really don’t need to put anything on it. I learned that my rookie year in 1991.
I’d never been to a great steakhouse and then we went to Peter Luger [in New York City]. I didn’t know anything about it. I just knew when I was eating steak growing up I would ketchup on the steak. But you could have heard the record needle scratch right off the record when I asked for ketchup. Luckily, my friend’s dad saved me and said, “Oh no, that’s just for his fries.”
But I was a kid, though I shouldn’t say I was a kid, I was like 23. I’d never been to a good steakhouse. I ate the steak that comes in frozen slivers, Steak-umm. It needed ketchup. Now I know, you don’t need to put anything on a good steak, they’re delicious by themselves.
What are some of your other favorite things to eat?
I love food and I associate food with football for several reasons. One, because of all the tailgates that I go to now and eat at before the game. And sitting in the stands, eating during the games. Levi’s Stadium [in San Francisco] has some pretty incredible food. They have everything from sushi to prime rib. But I’m still a basic hotdog or hamburger guy. It’s easy and it tastes delicious.
What are some of your favorite spots in Colorado?
When I was still playing I would go to Elway’s often because I traveled every week and would eat at the airport. And then, when I was playing, we would often go to Carmine’s on Penn with the hockey guys. I used to hang out with the Avalanche players back in the day, and that was one of their favorite places to go after a game.
[In this area] there’s a really delicious Mexican place that I like called Los Dos Potrillos [a DingingOut Events Top Taco winner]. If you want to go for Greek food, this steak place is really good. I am so bad with names, but I’m really good with the food that I ate there, and it was absolutely delicious.
Wait, I’m going to call my Greek friend who knows the best Greek food. (He calls, “Hey, real quick, I got two seconds. What’s that really good Greek steakhouse?). It’s Steakhouse 10.
Okay, so last question. Where do you and Lisa watch the Super Bowl?
I mean for many, many years I have gone to the Super Bowl. In the last year the 49ers were in the Super Bowl, so we went to that game. But we won’t actually go to the game if our kid isn’t in it. But we do go to the Super Bowl a week leading up to it like a lot of members of the media would.
With that our interview ended with a few selfies and a couple fans stopping by to shake the gentle giant’s hand. And, true to his word, he did not eat both dishes, but instead took the french toast home for later.
Want to read more from our local celebrities? Check out our interviews with drag mom Felony Misdemeanor and meteorologist Kylie Bearse.
