Frank Gore makes bold 49ers prediction for upcoming season

Betting site Bovada took to Twitter to ask fans to make their bold sports predictions. Retired NFL running back Frank Gore offered his response, and it will make San Francisco 49ers fans happy if it comes true. The future Hall of Famer and Niners' all-time leading rusher predicts that Super Bowl 57 will feature the 49ers and the Buffalo Bills—two teams for which Gore played during his illustrious 16-year career.

The 49ers are coming off an NFC Championship Game appearance—their second in three years. The Bills fell 42-36 to the Kansas City Chiefs in a Divisional playoff game overtime thriller. Buffalo is expected to be one of the teams to beat in a competitive AFC. San Francisco's roster is also loaded with talent, but the team is transitioning at quarterback from Jimmy Garoppolo to Trey Lance.

Gore's prediction says much about his confidence in the team and the coaching staff, considering the former running back previously expressed more confidence in Garoppolo over Lance.

"Every time he's out there, they win," Gore said in April. "It might not look [good], but they win. I know the business of it. They gave up three first-round picks [for Lance], so eventually, he [does] got to come in and play, but if I'm the Niners, if I can't get a [second-round draft pick] or higher for Jimmy, I'd probably have to keep him. ... He went to the playoffs. He's been in the league for a while, so he understands the offense. He's smart. Right now, I would say Jimmy [gives the 49ers the best chance to win]."

However, on another occasion, Gore noted that Lance looks to have the talent to be a capable quarterback.

"I just think he needs more reps," Gore explained. "And when he was playing in preseason, I saw that he was doing some good things. I just think when he took that time off, and they let Jimmy G be the guy, then when Jimmy G got hurt, you could tell he kind of went backwards a little bit.

"But he [does] have talent. I just think he needs the reps. I think once Kyle knows what he's really good at because Kyle is one of the greatest play-callers in the league right now. I think Kyle will figure it out [a way] for him to have success."

San Francisco made Gore a third-round draft pick out of the University of Miami in 2005. He played 10 seasons for the Bay Area team, amassing 11,073 rushing yards during that timespan.

After that, Gore played three seasons (2015-17) for the Indianapolis Colts and then one season each for the Miami Dolphins (2018), Buffalo Bills (2019), and New York Jets (2020). He ranks No. 3 all-time with exactly 16,000 rushing yards, with only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton surpassing him.

During his NFL career, Gore was selected to five Pro Bowls and named to the 2010s All-Decade Team.