It’s official: 49ers legend Frank Gore retires from NFL

While we’ve known it would happen for some time, legendary running back Frank Gore officially retired from the NFL as a member of the 49ers on Thursday.

Future Hall of Fame running back Frank Gore‘s exemplary NFL career has come to a close in the only way it should have, him as a member of the San Francisco 49ers.

Gore officially retired with the team that drafted him out of Miami way back in Round 3 of the 2005 NFL Draft, news of the imminent transaction was first reported by Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News on Wednesday, yet it was something Gore made public a long time ago when he announced his long-term plan was to retire with the Niners when that day came.

“I started there, and I’m going to finish there when I’m done,” Gore said back in 2019. “Whenever I feel like I’m done, I’m going to come back and retire as a Niner.”

Now, his career has come full circle.

Frank Gore officially retires with 49ers

Gore’s retirement ceremony took place on Thursday, June 2 at 4 p.m. ET where he signed a one-day contract with San Francisco.

Not having played in 2021, Gore’s career ultimately spanned 16 years with five different teams, 10 of those years coming with the 49ers in which he became the franchise’s all-time leading rusher with 11,073 yards.

In total, Gore finished his NFL career with exactly 16,000 rush yards, third all time behind only running backs Walter Payton (16,726) and Emmitt Smith (18,355).

Perhaps the only thing missing from Gore’s otherwise exceptional career is a Super Bowl ring, and he came close in the 2012 season when the Niners ultimately lost to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII.

Will Frank Gore be inducted into the Hall of Fame?

There may be those who feel the five-time Pro Bowler shouldn’t be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, likely citing a few key points.

For starters, Gore’s amassing of those 16,000 yards was in volume, not because he was a single-season rush leader at any point during his elongated career. Should players be rewarded simply for staying in the league a long time?

Those critics’ arguments would be “no.”

Additionally, some may argue Gore was never the most dominant player at his position at any point during his career, likely backed up by not being a first-team All-Pro, although he did make a second-team group in 2006.

We could go on and on about why these critiques are wrong (we already have right here), but the simple evaluation is this.

Of the top-16 running backs in terms of total yardage, only two aren’t in the Hall of Fame, Gore and still-active Adrian Peterson, who’s in fifth place on that list.

Both will make it in after waiting five years to be eligible.

At any rate, congratulations are in order to Mr. Inconvenient Truth himself.