Former San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore, who is now with the Indianapolis Colts, currently sits in eighth place on the NFL's all-time rushing list with 13,107 yards from scrimmage – just 152 yards behind Eric Dickerson. He is the 49ers' all-time rushing leader with 11,073 yards, which he gathered from 2005 through 2014.
Most would say that Gore is the greatest running back in the 49ers' rich history and that his career will end in Canton, Ohio. Few would argue that.
Former 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan, who also spent years as an executive with the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins, is now back to running his college scouting agency, Instinctive Scouting.
McCloughan spent 2005 through 2009 as the 49ers' vice president of player personnel and general manager. Gore was his favorite draft pick during his time as an NFL executive. On Saturday, he joined KNBR and shared the story of scouting the running back for the first time.
My favorite player that I ever drafted https://t.co/I8zCqsGUjJ
— Scot Mccloughan (@MccloughanScot) September 10, 2017
"I went to a Miami-Florida State game when he was a freshman," McCloughan said. "At that point, [Anquan] Boldin was young too but I was watching a lot of players at Florida State and they had Clinton Portis and [Willis] McGahee as the one-two and Frank was the third as a true freshman. And they put Frank in a game and he just dominated.
"As an area scout, you pay attention to that stuff, especially down in the Southeast region because there's so many players, so many athletes. But just to see how he handles the situation and just dominated. So, in the back of my mind is, 'He's a freshman. We can't touch him.' He's got three more years at least before you can touch him but he -- just a football player through and through."
McCloughan went on to discuss the process of the 49ers drafting Gore nearly four years later.
"Mike Nolan's the head coach of the 49ers," McCloughan said. "My first year there. He gets hired. I get hired. And I'm in his house the night before the draft and I get a call from an agent saying, 'Would you talk to Frank Gore?' I'm like, 'Of course.' So, he calls me. I can only understand half the things he's saying. He's going so fast. But he's told, 'I'm going in the first. I'm going in the second.' I said, 'Listen, Frank, I have the first pick in the third round. Because of your medical background, I can't take you before that. But if you're there in the first pick in the third round, I'm taking you.'
"So I took him. He came in, walked by the coaches -- we flew him in -- and he was crying. He gave me a hug and said, 'You're the only one who was honest to me.' Amazing."
You can listen to the entire interview with McCloughan below.
In addition to his 13,107 career rushing yards, Gore has 74 rushing touchdowns, 415 receptions, 3,437 receiving yards, and 16 touchdown receptions.