Frank Gore to sign one-day contract with 49ers, officially retire today

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 2, 2022, 4:24 AM EDT
San Diego Chargers v San Francisco 49ers
Getty Images

Longtime NFL running back Frank Gore will sign a one-day contract with the 49ers and officially announce his retirement today.

Gore had confirmed he planned to retire as a 49er this offseason, and multiple reports say the ceremonial signing will be Thursday at 1 p.m. local time at the team’s facility.

The 49ers took Gore out of Miami in the third round of the 2005 NFL draft, and he played 10 seasons in San Francisco, being selected to five Pro Bowls.

After leaving San Francisco, Gore spent three years with the Colts and one each with the Dolphins, Bills and Jets. He was the oldest running back in the NFL in his final season, in 2020.

Gore finishes his career with exactly 16,000 rushing yards, the third-most in NFL history behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton. Gore is also the 49ers’ all-time leader in rushing yards, with 11,073 rushing yards with the 49ers.

In retirement Gore has dabbled in boxing, recently winning a professional boxing match, and he has said he would like to work for the 49ers in some capacity.

Permalink 30 Comments Feed for comments Back to top

30 responses to “Frank Gore to sign one-day contract with 49ers, officially retire today”

  1. What a stud, maintained like 4 yards a carry even those last 3-4 years, on teams with terrible lines too, hes without a doubt a first ballot HOFer.

  2. He’s not first ballot. While his durability and consistence is commendable, first ballots are reserved for the truly special. Frank Gore is not Emmit Smith, Walter Payton or Barry Sanders. Let’s not diminish the unique and rare honor of a first ballot hall of famer by trying to make everyone be one. He’s a hall of famer and that is something to be proud of.

  3. Still can’t believe what a career Gore had after the knee injuries he suffered in college. He was a speed/hard cut guy before blowing out first one knee, then the other. Completely changed his style, even his instincts, and become a one-cut-and-go downhill type runner. And then played FOREVER. Incredible. HOF for sure, and not just because he has the third most rushing yards of all time.

  5. Congrats to Frank Gore on one of the most uniquely wonderful carreer’s in football history. Under estimated from the U all the way to the HOF!!!

  6. I wonder if it’s the same contract he signed with the Eagles several years ago.

  9. 49ers should find a place for him on their strength and conditioning staff. They have had so many guys on IR it wrecked whole seasons, and Gore is an ironman.

  10. I admire the heck of of Frank Gore. I remember him tearing up knees in college and thinking he was done then. Then look at this long NFL career. Amazing.

  11. HOF, without a doubt. Sadly, the RB bar has been set so low… Jerome Bettis being in means that half the RBs playing today should be in as well.

  14. This guy has been playing in the league since I first got interested in it back in middle school. Crazy.

  15. Dude could have played anther year, teams wanted him, but he wanted to focus on boxing, and unless it was a shot at a ring not sure there was much inducement. Plus, kind of neat to end on a nice round yardage total of 16,000 yds in… 16 years. As a stats guy I appreciate that.

    That Miami Hurricanes RB room with Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Clinton Portis and that on the heels of Edgerrin James was incredible, and he ended up with more yards than any of them. He’ll join Edge in the hall soon enough. First Ballot? depends on how it shakes out that year. The first year he’ll be eligible will also be Rothlisberger, and we’ll have to see who’s still waiting at that point and who knows if the rules will have been tweaked. Definitely has a shot at it, will probably come down to whether he pissed off some writers or not at some point.

  16. mikefloreo says:
    June 2, 2022 at 5:00 am
    He’s not first ballot. While his durability and consistence is commendable, first ballots are reserved for the truly special.

    Not special? He carried that team from 2005 to 2010, when they were door mats. He was by far the best running back during this time. Just a dumb take.

  19. Pure class, maybe pound for pound the toughest RB that’s ever played the game. One of the all time great blockers picking up the blitz back when teams actually kept a RB in the backfield just for that purpose. Congratulations on a true HOF career.

  20. “49ers should find a place for him on their strength and conditioning staff.”

    It’s expected that he’ll take a position in their personnel department, possibly working as a scout. He’s been praised for his talent evaluation abilities so that seems to be the path forward, maybe one day he’ll be an NFL GM.

  21. Eagles almost signed him in 2015. I couldn’t believe I was so excited to sign a 32 yo RB. Fantastic player…1st ballot IMO

  22. Congrats, Frank! Thanks for the memories. You are a true class act.

    Gore had more yards per rush than even Emmitt Smith. He didn’t get close to Emmitt on TD’s, but that has more to do with the teams he was on and not ability.

    Next stop…Hall of Fame.

  23. I hate these, why couldn’t they just sign him again during the latter part of his career & have him retire that way when the season ended? See Ken Griffey Jr & Kevin Garnett

  24. More players should model themselves after this guy: a tough, hard working, team first player. Belongs in the HOF.

  25. One of the all-time greats…and one of the toughest to ever “carry the rock”.

  26. Well done sir. Class act, 3rd on the all time rushing list. 1st ballot hall of tamer and one of the all time greats.

  27. Tore he knee up against Ohio st and most thought he was finished here we are 16 seasons later what a fantastic career bravo .

  28. I still can’t believe I played against him and Vilma in high school and he’s just now retiring. I’m 42 years old…

  30. My only complaint with Frank Gore has absolutely nothing to do with Frank Gore. My complaint is that he set the bar waaaaaaaaay too high for “normal” kids drafted out of college with previous knee injuries.

    Trent Baalke, the idiot GM at the time (and future destroyer of Jags roster) thought he could outsmart the league by perennially drafting players with previous knee injuries. What he seemed to never figure out was that Frank was/is one of a kind.

    Thanks for giving us 9er fans something to cheer for during those ultra bleak years, Frank. Enjoy a much deserved retirement.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.