Frank Gore, sadly, will not play in the NFL until the heat death of the universe. The 39-year-old running back is retiring, after signing a one-day contract with San Francisco, the 49ers announced Thursday.
That marks the official end of a stunning career. In a league where running backs have the shortest careers of any offensive or defensive position, Gore was a fixture on Sundays for 16 years. He averaged more than 700 rushing yards per season after he turned 34. He played more regular season games than any modern era running back and ran for at least 100 yards in 47 of them.
His retirement, especially in the center of the NFL’s offseason, will spark the same debate every longtime veteran prompts. Is he bound for the NFL Hall of Fame?
Yes.
…
Oh I’m sorry, y’all need more? I get it. If you’d only watched the last five years of Frank Gore, you may only know him as a workhorse veteran platoon back who dabbled (poorly) in boxing and narrowly missed the opportunity to share a backfield with his own son. But prime Frank Gore — a period that lasted roughly 10 full years! — was a terrifying blend of speed, power and durability that made him an asset wherever he went.
Gore ran for 1,695 yards in his second season as a pro, averaging 5.4 yards per carry along the way. This would have been notable anywhere, but was even more so considering his quarterback was early-career Alex Smith, who had 16 games and failed to throw for more than 2,900 yards or complete more than 59 percent of his passes that year. Defenses knew where the ball was going and *still* couldn’t contain Gore.
Consider his 2012 run through the postseason, where he ran for 319 yards and four touchdowns in three games, chewing up the Packers, Falcons and Ravens along the way. The 49ers went 33-9 when Gore ran for triple digits in his decade with the team. They were 43-82-1 when he didn’t. In 2019, at age 36, he went up against the New England Patriots’ top-ranked defense and ran for 109 yards on 17 carries.
Then there’s the sheer scale of his career statistics.
Gore ranks third in total NFL carries with 3,735. Every other player in the top 15 is either in the Hall of Fame or will be (Adrian Peterson). Gore ranks third in total NFL rushing yards with 16,000. Every other player in the top 15 is either in the Hall of Fame or will be. Gore is tied for 19th in all-time rushing touchdowns. Sixteen of the top-21 tailbacks in that category are either in the Hall of Fame or will be.
Gore had at least 1,000 yards in eight seasons as a 49er. He left the franchise after 2014, and it hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since (Gore hit that mark once more, aged 33, with the Indianapolis Colts).
This is all to say he was a ridiculous NFL running back who burned brightly for a long time, then continued to shine well past his supernova date. Players like him are outliers in a league that grinds athletic runners down to a nub and sends them into retirement before their 30th birthdays. Even as his numbers dipped in his late-30s, Gore continued to churn forward, averaging at least 2.0 yards after contact in his final two seasons with the Bills and Jets, respectively.
Frank Gore was a football robot wrapped in convincing enough skin to fool Roger Goodell. He was a testament to machine learning, utilizing his concussive power when his speed began to fail and reveling in the debris he left behind. He made the league better by being in it, first by lighting defenses on fire and later by proving Dad Strength could be enough to carry an offense in stretches.
Happy trails, Frank. See you in Canton in about four, maybe five years.
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