49ers Star Christian McCaffrey Joins Zach Bryan on Piano for Spellbinding 2026 Madden Bowl Performance

Zach Bryan had a surprise in store for the crowd at his Madden Bowl 2026 performance, which took place at San Francisco's Chase Center last night (Friday, February 6th).

The pre-Super Bowl extravaganza, which saw various gamers battling against one another for a lucrative $1 million prize, featured sets from Teddy Swims, Stephen Wilson Jr., LaRussell and Gavin Adcock, with Bryan serving as the evening's headliner.

When Bryan and his crew emerged on-stage, attendees quickly realised that the ‘Something in the Orange’ hitmaker's usual piano-player was nowhere to be found. So who was the man sat on keys in his place? Then, one by one, it dawned the crowd...

It was none other than San Francisco 49ers star, Christian McCaffrey, delivering an unexpected performance to an adoring home-team crowd in California. Numerous fans have taken to social media to praise McCaffrey's piano-playing skills.

Following the explosive set, Bryan expressed his gratitude to his friend McCaffrey for joining the band, “thank you to my brother @christianmccaffrey filling in on keys tonight...We love ya always!” The Oklahoma native went on, “Thank you to @easportsofficial and @eamaddennfl for having us!”, donning the show “an honor”.

Bryan and McCaffrey have been pals for a while now. In 2023, for instance, the ‘I Remember Everything’ chart-topper announced he would be donating all the proceeds from his fan-favourite song, ‘El Dorado’, to McCaffrey's active-duty military and veterans charity, 23 and Troops, which forms part of the Christian McCaffrey Foundation.

Elsewhere during his live-wire concert, Bryan treated the packed-out audience to the first ever performances of ‘Say Why’ and ’Appetite’, two highlights from his new album, With Heaven On Top. The sprawling, eclectic project arrived on January 9th, 2026.

Despite only being added to the line-up at the last-minute, after Luke Combs was forced to drop out to be with his wife, Nicole, as they have their third child, Bryan was raring to go from the outset. The addition of McCaffrey gave the performance an aptly NFL-themed feel, with Madden Bowl kicking off the Super Bowl LX weekend.

We should point out that, although Bryan is buddies with a plethora of sports titans from an array of different teams, his heart will always lie with his beloved Philadelphia Eagles.

The ‘Dawns’ singer-songwriter even posted a photo of him alongside Eagles running back, Saquon Barkley, shortly after the performance, with a classic “Go Birds” in the caption.

It's not yet clear whether Bryan plans to attend the 2026 Super Bowl, which will be contested by the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks on Sunday (February 8th). Bryan was present during last year's match-up, during which his Eagles triumphed against the Kansas City Chiefs. The half-time performer this year is Bad Bunny, and fans are speculating as to who the Puerto Rico trailblazer might bring out as a special guest...would it be crazy to wish for a Benito x Bryan link-up?

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