Jets’ Gore doesn’t want to go out 0-16
If the best ability is availability, then the Raiders are faced with the most accomplished running back in the history of the NFL.
Within the destruction wrought by an 0-11 season for the New York Jets is Frank Gore, still running hard and flattening opposing pass rushers at age 37.
In his 16th season, Gore has played in 237 games, having broken the previous record of 227 set by Emmitt Smith.
Brought in originally to be a backup for Le’Veon Bell, Gore instead leads the Jets with 521 yards on 141 carries. It is the most yards gained by a back his age, surpassing Marcus Allen’s 505 yards with Kansas City age 37 in 1997. The Jets host the Raiders on Sunday. Gore has played every game, started 10 times and has 89 more touches than any other player on the Jets.
Jon Gruden, who counts Gore as a friend and unsuccessfully tried to convince him to join the Raiders, is prone to hyperbole but sounds reasonable when it comes to one of the true wonders of professional football.
“He’s what the NFL is all about,” Gruden said. “I wish all young running backs could meet Frank Gore, watch him work, see why he’s able to do what he’s done. He’s as physically and mentally tough as anybody that’s been in the NFL in the history of this league.”
Gore, whose history of injury in college at Miami kept him from being drafted until Scot McCloughan
and the 49ers called in the third round (No. 65 overall) in 2005, is the NFL’s third all-time leading rusher behind Smith (18,355) and Walter Payton (16,726) and also third in carries with 3,689.
Presumably having reached his shelf life at age 31 and leaving the 49ers after the 2014 season, Gore has played for the Colts, Dolphins and Jets and added 1,247 carries and 4,795 yards to his career totals.
If Gore were to finish at his present pace, he’d break 16,000 yards by the end of the season and in theory be in position to challenge Payton for No. 2 on the all-time list in 2021.
At age 38.
Gore hasn’t ruled it out.
“You just never know, and I’ve got to be real with myself in how teams think about my age,” Gore said following a Jets loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 23. “They might not want a 38-year-old running back on the team. It’s tough because I don’t know about next year.”
In other words, Gore sounds as if he wants to play, but isn’t sure if he can find a home.
According to overthecap.com, Gore has made nearly $62 million in the NFL and is making just over $1 million this season, so he’s clearly not doing it for the money. The reason that
Gruden and every other coach in the NFL holds Gore in such high regard besides unprecedented durability is his focus on the team. He’s always been a punishing blocker, schooled first by Tom Rathman with the 49ers.
More than that, Gore wants to pass along what he knows and isn’t bailing out in disgust in an 0-11 season that could be his last.
“I tell myself, we’re not winning, but I can at least show these young men that if I still go out there every day and work my behind off, they can do it, too,” Gore said.”
Gore has fashioned a Nolan Ryan legacy in terms of age and durability. Ryan was still striking out hitters into his mid-40s. In a position where running backs are fortunate to make it past four years, Gore has played all 16 games of a season nine times, 15 games once, 14 games four times and 11 games once. This year, he’s 11 for 11 and counting.
But the only thing Gore is counting at the moment is the win total — which is stuck at zero.
“We’ve got to get one. You don’t want to go 0-16. Especially if this might be my last year,” Gore said. “I can’t go out like that, you know. Hopefully, we can just try to get one. Can’t wait till we get it; I’ll be so happy.”