Frank Gore says he plans to call it a career in the next few months. The longtime NFL running back and San Francisco 49ers icon intends to retire and potentially join a front office somewhere—possibly with the team that drafted him.
"Probably [will retire] in a couple of months," Gore told Heidi Watney this week on Bovada's Instagram account (h/t TheSFNiners). "We're still trying to figure out when I'm going to do my one-day contract [with the 49ers], to sign, do my retirement. I told [49ers CEO] Jed York that I always wanted to be a Niner, so we're working on that right now.
"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."
The 49ers made Frank Gore a third-round pick in 2005. Seventeen years later, it looks like he is done with the grind of being an NFL player, and he will go down as one of the all-time greats.
Gore, 38, ranks No. 3 all-time with exactly 16,000 rushing yards. Only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton rank above him. Aside from Gore and Adrian Peterson, all 16 running backs at the top of the career-rushing leaders list are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Gore will likely join that exclusive club in five years.
Gore's 11,073 rushing yards through 10 seasons with San Francisco are the most by a single player in franchise history. The running back went on to play for the Indianapolis Colts and then spent one season each with the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and New York Jets. He finishes his career with 81 rushing touchdowns to go along with his hefty rushing-yard total.
Gore has always expressed a desire to finish his career with the 49ers. He continues to love and follow the team even after leaving in 2015.
Gore did not play football in 2021.
H/t to Rohan Chakravarthi for the find