Few among the 49ers Faithful would argue about Frank Gore being a Hall of Fame-caliber player, but there’s still an argument against him for some reason.
It’s time to explore the other side of the argument, one which San Francisco 49ers fans (and the bulk of fans across the league) have little trouble discounting.
Legendary running back Frank Gore, the Niners’ all-time leading rusher and the player who sits at No. 3 on the NFL’s all-time leading rushing list behind only Pro Football Hall of Fame players, Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith, shouldn’t be enshrined in Canton.
OK, hold up… what? That’s an argument?
Yeah, it is.
A personal note here. Back in high school, one of the things I challenged myself to do was take a stance on something I wholly disagreed with. Sometimes I was forced to do it, as was the case in those speech and debate classes. For others, I only tried doing it to see the opposite perspective.
I’m going to try to do that here, breaking down the arguments made by critics of Gore’s Hall of Fame candidacy.
Skipping ahead to the conclusion, the basis of those arguments is folly. Completely wrong and ignorant of the fact Gore put forth one of the best careers in pro football: 16,000 yards exactly over 16 years. San Francisco fans know this all too well because they got to witness it firsthand during the prime years of his career.
Still, it’s worth exploring the other side of the argument coin, even if it still leads to the same conclusion: Gore is worthy of a bust in Canton.
Nevertheless, let’s take a look at three common arguments against Gore being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (and why they’re wrong).
Reason No. 3: Frank Gore never achieved ‘best of the best’ accolades
No one will argue Frank Gore wasn’t very good. No one.
In fact, his being able to overcome multiple and serious injuries at the collegiate level, which led to the 49ers drafting him in Round 3 of the 2005 NFL Draft out of Miami, is a testament to the work ethic and dedication he had.
At no point in his storied career, though, did Gore stand out as one of the NFL’s top-end elite. You know, the reserve cast of players who receive multiple first-team All-Pro selections, MVP votes and placement on an All-Decade team list somewhere.
Gore didn’t get any of those during his 16-year career. Sure, he was a Pro Bowler five times during his NFL career, all of which came with the Niners. But if the Pro Football Hall of Fame is reserved solely for the Top Gun-quotable “best of the best,” Gore doesn’t reach that category.
Sports Illustrated Ron Borges explained:
"If one looks at his lengthy resume those 16,000 yards jump out at you because entrance to the Hall is about production. But if one looks a little deeper you find not a single year in which Gore led the NFL in any offensive category, including rushing yards. In fact, he was only in the top FIVE in rushing one season, 2006, when he ran for 1,645 yards. Although he went to five Pro Bowls, Gore was never once voted All-Pro. In 16 years he not only was never named the league MVP, he never got a single vote. So what was he really — Hall of Famer or Hall of Very Good?"
It’s a sound argument. One which many who state Gore isn’t a Hall of Famer will use.
As we’ll get to in a moment, though, even this argument has its flaws.
Reason No. 2: Frank Gore isn’t Adrian Peterson
While related to the first reason, there’s a key difference to note here when looking at Frank Gore and his career in contrast to that of another running back who defied Father Time, still-active Adrian Peterson, who broke into the league two years after Gore and cemented his own Hall of Fame-caliber résumé.
Peterson, 37 years old after the 2021 season (his 15th in the league), will be contrasted against Gore in the Hall of Fame debate no matter what. Both runners stemmed from a time when the ground game was still paramount to NFL offenses, long before today’s pass-happy attack took center stage.
Yes, Gore was great. But Peterson, who set the current-era benchmark for best running backs of all time, will finish his career as a seven-time Pro Bowler, the 2007 Offensive Rookie of the Year, a four-time first-team All-Pro, the 2012 NFL MVP (the last time a non-quarterback was selected), a member of the All-2010s team and will finish no worse than fifth on the NFL’s all-time leading rushing list with 14,918 yards as of the 2021 season.
Gore never came close to that accolade list.
Hall of Fame voters often use that kind of criteria, breaking down the absolute best of any generation, usually broken down by decade.
And while there’ll be no doubting Peterson’s Hall of Fame candidacy, contrasting Gore against him suggests the latter should be forced, at the very least, to wait for a long, long time until after Peterson is enshrined in order to magnify just how good the latter was.
Reason No. 1: Frank Gore longevity isn’t worthy of Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration
This is probably the top argument anti-Frank Gore pundits will make with regards to his Hall of Fame worthiness.
Yes, Gore reached 16,000 rush yards over his 16-year career. Yes, that’s a lot for a running back. But, in light of the prior two reasons, is merely staying in the career in order to “pad stats” and reach higher standings worthy of Hall of Fame consideration?
Their argument is a resounding “no.”
In fairness to said argument, one could look at Gore’s final years and recognize he was only a shell of his former self. After leaving San Francisco in 2015, Gore averaged over 4 yards per carry just once, 2018 with the Miami Dolphins, although he still managed one more 1,000-yard campaign with the Indianapolis Colts in 2016 at the age of 33 and crested 900-plus yards during his two other seasons in Indy.
Read More: Ranking 49ers’ 10 best running backs in franchise history
Still, the sentiment is more about volume, not impactful production at any one time, as Ron Borges also argued:
"If one takes a hard look at that production we find he is one of only two backs (Emmitt Smith being the other) to have started over 200 games at running back, which is how someone whose career average of 66.4 rushing yards per game (putting him behind the likes of Willie Parker, Priest Holmes, Robert Smith and Ray Rice among others) ends up near the top of the rushing yardage list."
The gist of the argument is that longevity, in itself, is not a Hall of Fame-worthy trait. It’s admirable, especially for a running back. But it shouldn’t be classified as truly elite.
Sorry, fellas. That argument is wrong, too.
Why all these arguments against Frank Gore are wrong
Well, for starters, let’s just leave this here — the top-15 rushers of all time:
- Emmitt Smith: 18,355 yards
- Walter Peyton: 16,726 yards
- Frank Gore: 16,000 yards
- Barry Sanders: 15,269 yards
- Adrian Peterson: 14,918 yards
- Curtis Martin: 14,101 yards
- LaDanian Tomlinson: 13,684 yards
- Jerome Bettis: 13,662 yards
- Eric Dickerson: 13,259 yards
- Tony Dorsett: 12,739 yards
- Jim Brown: 12,312 yards
- Marshall Faulk: 12,279 yards
- Edgerrin James: 12,246 yards
- Marcus Allen: 12,243 yards
- Franco Harris: 12,240 yards
Aside from Gore (who just announced his plans for retirement) and Peterson, who is still active, each member of that top 15 is in the Hall of Fame. Considering how stat-happy the NFL is, along with the fact the league likely won’t shift back to run-first offenses for a very long, long time, the sheer volume is reason enough to induct Gore.
Peterson, too, if you were doubting. To counter the second reason on this list, it’s not as if voters can only choose between Gore and Peterson. In fact, one can safely argue Peterson enjoyed vastly better scenarios during the prime of his career with the Minnesota Vikings than Gore endured with the 49ers during his prime, as Football Outsiders’ Mike Tanier pointed out:
"Gore spent the first six years of his career on miserable 49ers teams. Think about it: the first six years of a running back’s career are typically his entire productive career. Todd Gurley just completed his sixth season and he’s ready to be put to pasture. If you like to argue about what would happen if Terry Bradshaw and Archie Manning switched places, well, hook Gore up with Tom Brady or Peyton Manning in the late 2000s, or put him behind the Seahawks, Chiefs, or Broncos offensive lines at the time. Even [Fred] Taylor’s Jaguars were typically much better teams than Gore’s 49ers at their peaks, to say nothing of the teams that [Curtis] Martin and Bettis (once he reached the Steelers) played for. Both Gore’s raw totals and DYAR/DVOA were both harmed by playing for an organization which was dysfunctional for years."
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Think about that for a second. For the overwhelming majority of Gore’s prime, he was the lone offensive weapon the Niners had. Defenses keyed in on him and likely him alone, yet he still managed four 1,000-yard rushing seasons between 2005 and 2010, including nearly 1,700 rush yards on a putrid 2006 San Francisco squad.
As for longevity, well, considering most running backs call it a career at age 30, the ability to contribute at a solid level well beyond that benchmark has to be worth just as much as any first-team All-Pro selection or MVP vote. In fact, looking at the sheer number of one- or two-time All-Pro running backs who aren’t in the Hall of Fame, that number is considerably greater than rushers who played well beyond 35 years of age.
So, yes, Gore is a hands-down bona fide Hall of Famer. Drop the mic on that one.