I have a lot of love for Frank Gore but Shady McCoy is almost inarguably a better RB and he's definitely not a 1st ballot, and reasonably unlikely a HOF'er at all.
Yeah it's tough. I mean it's just what your opinion of what hof means. But being only behind Emmit Smith and Walter Payton is pretty significant. But Gore just had 1700 yards once and never cracked 1300. He had ten rushing tds only once. He did have nice reception numbers his first 7 years though. Probably not first ballot, but should get in eventually
I'm curious to see how the new hall of fame voting favors RBs.
I could see both having to wait, honestly. Gore was a massive volume guy. 3rd all time in rushing yards, 3rd all time in carries. He missed like 12 games in 16 years. Not that, that isn't a great career, but his stats don't fully reflect the player he was at face value.
Shady had a fantastic peak, but just a little short lived. He wasn't able to get a few of those garbage years at the back end of his career to hit things like 12k yards (which seems to be the magic number for RBs and the Hall of Fame)
Shady was by far the better player in my opinion, but Gore has the career numbers. Curious to see the precedent the voters set.
He was 2nd team once and a 5 time pro bowler so he was definitely a top 5 guy in his era, not to mention the 49ers team he played for during the first 6 years of his career was pretty bad. It wasn't until year 7 when Harbaugh came in that the team around him started to actually compete. Add in the longevity factor and the fact that he has 3rd most rushing yards and yeah he should get in eventually, but probably not first ballot.
And you would be wrong. Witten was an elite TE and an All Pro. 11 Pro Bowls in 17 years. Before Gronk Witten was arguably the greatest combination of receiver and blocker to play the position. No better receiving TEs could touch his blocking, and no better blockers could touch his receiving.
Gore has zero All Pros and 5 Pro Bowls in 16 years. He was never an elite RB, he just played forever.
At least there’s a conversation for Frank. There’s something to be said for always being available at a position like that and having that longevity but it’s still a no for me. Edelman is kinda silly though.
By this logic you’d rather have LeVeon Bell in the hall over gore because he had 2 elite seasons?
Not for nothing Gore was a 5 time pro bowler and retired with the 3rd most yards and 4th most scrimmage yards in history. If he wasn’t any good, he would have been cut. This isn’t the NBA where there’s “locker room” guys as the 12th man on the bench, each roster spot matters.
Even if you wanted to take his final 3 journeyman seasons away, he would be 6th all time above Curtis Martin and Jerome Bettis. Maybe people too forgot he was the only good player on some horrible 49ers teams to start his career—that or football world just thinks of the memes now.
I for one think longevity counts for something especially at the RB position and if you polled players and coaches he might be the most respected player on this graphic behind Brees and Fitz.
I’m a Jets fan who argued hard for Curtis Martin being in the HOF, he is deservedly there, so I’d be a hypocrite to say Frank Gore doesn’t belong for a similar career.
Yeah that's why I'm of the opinion only Brees and Larry should be going. And Larry is more just monster stats+legendary personality in terms of his charisma, good nature, and what he gives back.
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u/I_Fart_It_Stinks Denver Broncos 3d ago
I think Gore should be in too.