Frank Gore is a Hall of Famer. Yet, for some reason, folks are really still debating this.
This also erupted a few years ago when Gore first passed Adrian Peterson and then Barry Sanders for fourth and third in all-time rushing yards, respectively.
Gore last played for the Jets in the 2020 season, rushing for 653 yards and 2 TDs. That’s when he passed Sanders.
The 38-year-old running back now has 16,000 rushing yards, leaving him 727 yards shy of passing Walter Payton for second all-time. For that to happen, he would need to play for at least two seasons.
But earlier this week, Gore announced he was hanging up his cleats and would sign a one-day contract with the San Francisco 49ers to do it.
“We still trying to figure out when I’m going through my one-day contract, to sign, do my retirement,” said Gore. “I told (owner) Jed York I always want to be a Niner. So we working on that right now.”
Gore also mentioned that he would love to move into the front office because he “loves looking at talent.”
And what a talent he was.
At the University of Miami in 2001, Gore, a true freshman, backed up Clinton Portis and helped them win the national championship that season. He also looked like the best back on the team, averaging over 9 yards per carry.
But prior to his sophomore year, he tore his ACL and missed the entire season.
Gore still had a good four-year career with the Hurricanes, which is one of the reasons why the 49ers drafted him in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
He spent 10 years in San Francisco, becoming their all-time leading rusher with 11,073 yards. He was also part of their Super Bowl XLVII team in 2013, where he rushed for 110 yards and a TD.
In their questioning of his Hall of Fame credentials, some suggest he doesn’t have a career-defining moment.
Aside from the fact that he’s the NFL’s third all-time leading rusher, they conveniently forget that in that Super Bowl against the Ravens, Gore had a 33-yard run that set San Francisco up at Baltimore’s seven-yard line with under three minutes remaining in the game. They should have won the game there but four bad play calls ended their chances and the Ravens won, 34-31.
In January of 2017, Gore became the oldest running back since John Riggins to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a season and the first Colts running back to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a season since 2007.
Need more to validate his Hall of Fame jacket?
Frank Gore has passed all-time greats like Jim Brown, Thurman Thomas, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen, Edgerrin James, Marshall Faulk, Tony Dorsett and the previously mentioned Peterson and Sanders to get to where he is.
Like Gore, not all of them have Super Bowls, but they’re all in the Hall of Fame.
Over his sixteen-year career, Gore has topped 1,000 rushing yards nine times.
He’s also been fairly durable during his career, rarely missing a game.
“When I got to 28, I heard I was on my last leg,” Gore said in 2017. “That just motivated me to keep going. I never let a man judge me. I believe in the man up above. As long as he has my body feeling great, I train hard in the offseason and I still love the game, I’m going to come back and play as hard as I can.”
For a man to pass current Hall of Famers and still be questioned whether he’s worthy to be in Canton is silly.
Frank Gore is a Hall of Famer, so please stop the foolishness.
