Frank Gore was already a legend in the hearts of San Francisco 49ers fans. His legacy went nationwide on Sunday afternoon when he surpassed Barry Sanders on the all-time rushing list, climbing to No. 3 behind just Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton.
Albert Breer recently included an interesting tidbit in a feature for The MMQB that included some comments from former 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan, who was the team's newly-hired VP of Player Personnel when Gore was drafted in 2005. It was his first draft with the team after coming from the Seattle Seahawks.
It turns out, team doctors initially failed Gore on his physical. McCloughan fought to have that the Hurricanes running back's grades changed.
"You go through not every grade [with the doctors], but the ones that were for sure rejects and ones that are close to being rejects," McCloughan told Breer, "I was in there before the head coach got in there. And I'm sitting with the doctors and I saw Frank, I saw he had a reject grade just barely.
"I said, 'Fellas, we gotta change this. I'm telling you.' 'Well, that's what we saw,' [the doctors responded]. 'I don't care,' [I said]. I was young, I didn't know any better.
"The majority of the time you don't change those grades. The doctors are doctors. Of course, personnel guys aren't doctors. [I asked], 'Hey, if it's this close can you look at again for me, please? Really look at it and make sure the grade is right.' I think they got the idea for what I was trying to say. They changed it a little bit so it's not a negative, it's more of a positive. They did it."
Gore had reconstructed shoulders and reconstructed knees, so selecting him was considered a gamble. It was a gamble with which McCloughan was perfectly comfortable. The story is yet another example of how much McCloughan wanted to draft Gore, who went on to become the 49ers all-time rushing leader after 10 seasons with the team.
McCloughan promised Gore that if he were still there in the third round, the 49ers would select him, and that's exactly what they did.
When Gore reported to the 49ers, he went to McCloughan and said, "You know, all these teams were telling me certain things, and you were the only one that was honest to me, I'll never forget that. I guarantee you I'll be the best back in this draft. The best back."
Click here to read the entire feature from Breer.
