Why Gore runs at 35: Chasing legends, that elusive ring and a slight he never forgot
We expected Frank Gore in Year 14 to be tough, durable and of the highest character.
We didn’t expect him to be explosive.
But Gore has repeatedly gotten to the second — and third — levels in his debut season with the Dolphins, breaking off runs of 21, 32, 39, 23 and, most recently 36 yards.
That last burst came Sunday against the Patriots, a play that was remarkable for two reasons:
1. That the 35-year-old Gore was able to outrun linebackers on the 3,367th career on his distinguished career.
2. And that the Dolphins have tinkered with their playbook to include calls like the counter that created the hole Gore needed to break loose.
Jesse Davis and Ja’Wuan James pulled from the right side to the left, and the Patriots front had no chance to touch Gore, let alone bring him down.
“He doesn’t know he’s 35, or he doesn’t believe it,” Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. “We kind of tailor some things so that he was comfortable and he was able to run the plays he’s run his whole career. That’s why you see some of this stuff look a little different. When he gets an opening, he hits it and he gets to that second level fast and it’s hard for those guys to bring him down.
“He’s still Frank Gore, man,” Gase said. “He’s got a powerful lower body, runs through arm tackles. Multiple guys need to tackle him to bring him down.”
Gore had a vintage game against New England, rushing for 92 yards on 12 carries. He moved up another spot on two more all-time lists (yards from scrimmage, where he’s now fifth, and all-purpose yards, where he’s ninth). And he’s topped 700 yards for the season for the 13th time in his career — averaging a robust 4.7 yards per carry in the process.
In short, he shows no signs of slowing down, which has prompted the inevitable question: Why even consider retirement after the season?
Gore on Wednesday again insisted he has not made up his mind on 2019, but said he still meets two important standards: He still feels good and he is still having fun.
But perhaps the greatest motivation to return next year? He would likely pass Barry Sanders for third on the NFL’s all-time rushing list. Gore is 535 yards behind Sanders with three games left in the season. Gore doesn’t care too much about the other lists, but he reveres Sanders and knows what it would mean to pass him.
“Me, coming up, I thought Barry Sanders was the best running back ever,” Gore said. “Not knocking Emmitt [Smith]. Just the plays Barry made, just knowing he ain’t really played with nobody. He kind of did a lot on his own. That’s tough. I respect it.”
Gore was in a talkative mood Wednesday, and no topic was off limits.
He admitted that he needed to grow up early in his career at the University of Miami. That playing as a true freshman on arguably the most talented college football team ever went to his head. That the two ACL injuries he suffered in the years that followed humbled him.
“You see a guy [Clinton Portis] you were around he goes to the NFL and he puts up 1,500 first year, I’m like wow,” Gore said. “I’m like, ‘I can’t wait till I get there.’ I’m happy about what I had to go through. It made me respect the game better, more, made me look at the game one day at a time, one year at a time, and know it can be taken away from you. This game is not promised to nobody. That’s why when I’m on the practice field, I grind, go hard every time. When it was taken from me, I was sick.”
Gore’s first decade in the league flew by. He topped 1,000 yards in all but two seasons in San Francisco, and went over 1,100 in his 10th and final. And yet, then-49ers GM Trent Baalke made next to no effort to keep Gore when his contract was up that ensuing offseason.
That slight still fuels Gore nearly four years later.
“Not signing in San Fran, that gave me extra juice,” Gore said. “I felt like the GM felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. ... I thought I would have stayed, but he didn’t offer me a contract. Trent Baalke didn’t offer me a contract. I wanted to show them that they made a mistake.”
It was one of many mistakes that cost Baalke his job. Gore, however, is as good as ever — even if his body sometimes balks at the stress he puts it through. If Gore doesn’t go right home after a game to rest, it takes the better part of a week for Gore to get right.
Still, he plays because he’s still very good and very hungry to win. Gore has not been in the playoffs in a half-decade, and this might be his last best chance.
“I want to get in that postseason,” Gore said. “Once you get there, anything can happen. Hopefully we can get on a run.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2018 at 5:28 PM.
