Cosumnes High graduate Christian McFarland has NFL dreams and down-to-earth plans
It was over 100 degrees inside the stadium and Christian McFarland heard his name being called from the stands.
The Birmingham Stallions’ safety, and Elk Grove native, initially didn’t think much of it. Football players hear their names called all the time. But as it continued, the urgency in the fans’ voices began to catch McFarland’s attention.
“I finally turned around and then I saw people gathered halfway up the stands,” McFarland told The Bee. “And then I heard someone say that my wife passed out. So I jumped over the railing to go make sure she was okay.”
McFarland’s wife, Lauren, was five months pregnant. She fainted from heat exhaustion under the sun inside Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala., during a game that had a noon kickoff in the middle of May.
It was a unique situation in which an athlete ran into the stands with good intentions. McFarland, in full uniform and pads, snatched up his wife and took her back the concourse where she regained consciousness with the help of his mother, who is a nurse.
“(Lauren) always likes to sit at the very edge (of the row) where I can see her,” McFarland said. “it was really just heat exhaustion, she had been doing good hydrating and everything. But it was clean over 100 (degrees).”
It was an example of what McFarland became known for when he was a do-it-all standout football player at Cosumnes Oaks High School in Elk Grove. Those who know him point out his levelheadedness, selflessness and leadership traits that made him a recruiting target of the Air Force Academy while helping the Wolfpack to playoff appearances in both his varsity seasons before he graduated in 2016.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he still, to this day, shows compassion,” McFarland’s former high school coach, Derick Milgrim, said. “I think some of the leadership qualities come from an emotional place. And he was always an emotional leader in a positive way, and I think that comes from being caring and compassionate. I think he’s a positive role model for what he does on the football field, but I always thought he was a really great role model off the football field as well.”
Added McFarland’s agent, Stephen Vanyo: “He was a guy that made his way, made his own opportunity, paved his own path, didn’t take no for an answer, kept persevering. I think he’s not only a great football player and a hard worker, but I think he’s a great family man.”
McFarland is one of Birmingham’s best players. He’s a tone-setting safety who made the game-sealing interception late in the USFL Championship Game — in which he led the Stallions in tackles.
He hopes playing in the USFL and winning a championship can be a bridge to the next progression in his football career: a shot in the NFL. But with NFL training camps opening at the end of this month and most 90-man rosters set, McFarland knows that’s no sure thing.
It’s why during his college career and time in the USFL McFarland worked towards becoming a licensed real estate agent. He’s also in a master’s program he hopes will enhance his post-football career, with he and Lauren’s child due in October. He recently purchased a house in Roseville and is juggling moving with workouts to ensure he’s ready for an NFL tryout.
If not, the 23-year-old is still under contract with the USFL, which plays its games from April through early July.
Those ambitions away from the field don’t always exist for athletes on the fringes of going pro. And in the NFL, the average career spans just over three years, while just over 1% of college players get drafted.
“I don’t really look at it as a fallback plan,” McFarland said of his real estate career. “Because even if my football career goes exactly how I want it to, I still need to do something after. So it’s kind of just me setting it up, so that once I am done playing football, then I have something that I enjoy.”
McFarland’s path has included a few turns. He initially went to Azuza Pacific in the Inland Empire outside Los Angeles before deciding to return to play at Sacramento City College, where he earned team MVP honors and led his conference in tackles among defense backs. He came back to Sacramento in hopes he could transfer to a more prominent program.
He wound up at Idaho State, in the Division I FCS subdivision, where he appeared in all 11 games in 2019 and finished fourth on the team with 66 tackles and an interception against Portland State. He tore the labrum in his shoulder his senior season before COVID-19 struck in 2020. He played in the spring league before getting drafted into the USFL.
McFarland in high school was as much a weapon on offense as an enforcer in the secondary. He played receiver, running back and would even be used as a wildcat quarterback on top of his responsibilities at safety. He led the team in receiving as a senior and was among the leaders in tackles.
“He was just kind of a spark plug on offense,” Milgrim said of McFarland. “He would turn a 2-yard completion into a 60-yard touchdown. And then on defense, he played both corner and safety in his two years starting on the varsity with us. He was physical, he was athletic, and he made big plays.
“So as a football player, between the lines, you knew in high school what a great football player he was. He brought that passion, very energetic, very talented, lover of the game, high football IQ, and so that was always apparent.”
McFarland is equally as impressive away from the field.
“I think he always had a plan,” Milgrim said. “It was very thoughtful as he was preparing to leave high school and choose college. I think he did a really good job of thinking through that decision and thinking about how that was going to impact the rest of his life and what he wanted to do.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
