Frank Gore plans to call it a career. So what's next for him? First, he is working with the San Francisco 49ers to sign a one-day contract with the team that made him a third-round draft pick in 2005. After that, the future Hall of Fame running back hopes to join an NFL front office—possibly the one with which he spent 10 NFL seasons.
"I told [49ers CEO] Jed York that I always wanted to be a Niner, so we're working on that right now," Gore recently told Heidi Watney on Bovada's Instagram account. "And then we're going to also sit down, me and my agent, just talk about me working in the front office because I love looking at talent, and I love evaluating talent, and I love ball. And they know that I know football players, what it takes to be a football player."
It sounds like York likes the idea of Gore returning to the 49ers and helping the organization's front office.
"Frank is somebody I've always stayed close with, even after he left for Indy," York told Matt Barrows of The Athletic after Gore announced his post-NFL plans. "I would love to have Frank help us. I know his passion for the game, his eye for talent."
Gore had a lengthy and distinguished 16-year NFL career. He remains the 49ers' all-time leading rusher with 11,073 yards on the ground. The 38-year-old ranks No. 3 in NFL history with exactly 16,000 rushing yards, with only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton ranked above him.
York added, "He just knows which guys like to play football and which guys don't."
The fan-favorite Gore's passion for football, knowledge of the game, and love for the 49ers organization might be an asset to the team.
"That's my home, my second home," Gore said in 2019. "It would be right to go back—if I have to do a one-day [contract], sign that, and I'll be a Niner for life."