Panthers' McCaffrey helps rescue 72-year-old while hiking

Professional athletes are labeled heroes far too often, but the billing certainly applies to Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey.

McCaffrey and his friends went hiking in Castle Rock, Colo. on Saturday, taking some well-deserved time away from the rigors of professional football.

It was shaping up to be an uneventful day when McCaffrey noticed 72-year-old Dan Smoker Sr. fall 20 feet onto a rock. McCaffrey sprung into action, called 911, and assisted the elderly Smoker, who was with his grandson, Eli. Smoker is now in critical but stable condition.

"Everybody stepped up," McCaffrey said via the Panthers' official website. "I called 911, and it felt like an eternity. It felt like we were up there waiting for four hours. But I looked back at my call log and it took 11 minutes before the paramedics came. Amazing what those guys did."

Eli Smoker said he wasn't aware McCaffrey features in the NFL but it seems he'll have a new favorite player ahead of the 2018 season.

"They introduced themselves and I still hadn’t pieced it together,” Smoker said.
"I can’t say I’d recognize Christian without his football gear on. Around here, Valor Christian is a popular high school, and I knew that Ed McCaffrey had just taken over as head coach there. We were talking and they had mentioned that they went to Valor, and we were looking there because our son loves football as well."

It's surely a moment McCaffrey won't forget anytime soon.

"Truly a blessing that we turned the corner at that exact moment and we could be there for him," McCaffrey said. "I don't know what would have happened ... We were lucky to be at the right place at the right time."