To the casual National Football League fan, the career of Miami Dolphins running back Frank Gore doesn’t have the sizzle that’ll make them appreciate it, but it’s really difficult to overlook his accomplishments. Gore was a third-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2005, but he was an afterthought. Gore had to deal with multiple torn ACL’s during his collegiate career at the University of Miami where he had to take a backseat on the depth chart at running back there to the likes of Clinton Portis and Willis McGahee.
In the National Football League, Gore would join one of the worst teams in the league, but that didn’t stop him from having a big impact. 2006 was Gore’s second year in the NFL and he would go on to set a 49ers single-season rushing record with 1,695 yards. In all but two of Gore’s ten seasons with the Niners, he would he gain at least 1,000 yards on the ground, and when his time in San Francisco came to an end in 2014, he was the franchise’s all-time leader in rushing with 11,073 yards.
In 2015 at the age of 32, Gore was thought to be a “dinosaur” for the running back position when he joined the Indianapolis Colts. Gore was brought to Indy to work with the Colts young ball carriers, but in his three years with the club, he would total 2,953 yards on the ground which included gaining 1,025 yards in 2016.
This year Gore decided to go home as he signed a one-year contract with the Miami Dolphins. And even at the age of 35, Gore is still making an impact on the gridiron. With 708 rushing yards through 13 games, there is an outside shot for Gore to rush for 1,000 yards for the tenth time in his National Football League career, but if he were to do it, it’d be a microcosm of his time in the league.
Gore has never been a flashy guy which has allowed him to fly under the radar in the National Football League, but you cannot overlook his production and contributions to the game. Gore’s 14,734 career rushing yards are fourth all-time in NFL history as only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, and Barry Sanders have gained more yards on the ground than him. But that is right up Gore’s alley as his unassuming nature is part of what has allowed him to stay in the National Football League for as long as he has. And even at the 35, Gore still has fresh legs as he looks like he could contribute to a team next year, but you never know if these final three games of the Dolphins season will be his swan song. However if this is it for Gore, he has been one of the best to have ever done it at his position, and there is no denying that.
Leave A Comment