Should Frank Gore be included in our all-time RB vote? (poll included)
by Fooch on Jul 16, 2008 10:21 PM PDT
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So, the next position I'm going to post is the All-Time Running Back. At the moment I'm thinking the ballot will include Roger Craig, Garrison Hearst and Hugh McElhenny. Even though Frank Gore has only played 3 seasons, he is 10th in rushing yards and will likely climb into 5th place this season. Is that sufficient to include him?
I've attached a poll with a 3rd option I have been bouncing around in my head as well. We're all fans of Roger Craig, so it would certainly be easy to just declare him the all-time running back. Joe Perry is the 49ers all-time leading rusher but he was a fullback and included in that ballot.
Over at Big Blue View (the inspiration for our all-time team), they actually ran a ballot at running back, even though Tiki Barber is far and away the all-time leading rusher.
So, what does everybody think?
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.
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Once a Niner, Always a Niner
Inclusion into the all-time greats balloting, you have to have a player of Frank Gore’s stature to be included on the all-time ballot. Gore already broke the franchise record for most yards run in a season, out of three seasons he’s played for the red and gold.
Now if Gore was a puny running back who can barely scrape up yards, then the answer is NO!
But Gore is the opposite of that image I just described. He is a Pro Bowler caliber player, capable of helping carry the team to the Super Bowl one day.
If a player is just a one year player, the answer is no. Three years is enough to prove whether he merits being on the ballot at all, stats will prove he can do it year after year.
"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."
by 16to80endzone on Jul 16, 2008 11:06 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I'd like to add..
that Roger Craig is going to win the poll. Although Gore broke the franchise record for most rushing yards two seasons ago, Craig did it year after year, he is notorious for high-stepping during his runs, his style was popular, he was a long time 49er RB.
Roger Craig is an all-time great.
But it will be interesting to see how Gore fares in the polls. Obama Barack is giving John McCain an old fashioned whupping in the polls, and Roger Craig can, too.
But Gore might be a surprise, in pulling a McCain surprise.
But the truth is, Craig is going to win, and Barack will win.
In a landslide.
"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."
by 16to80endzone on Jul 16, 2008 11:25 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
I’d like to pre-emptively ask people not to respond to the strong political stuff (except maybe in jest).
I just don’t feel like reading a bunch of opposite wing flaming on a 49ers site.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Jul 16, 2008 11:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
political comments
As howtheyscored posted, please keep the political stuff out of the conversation. I realize it’s an election year, but there are plenty of political blogs open for discussion. So if people start talking politics, I’ll start deleting comments to keep things from getting out of hand (as usually happens with political discussions)
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by Fooch on Jul 17, 2008 12:08 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
It's about style..
I have a satiric writing style, people need to loosen up instead of turning into pillars of salt. I’ll stick to football, not politics.
Move o’er, I am trying to find my way through the maze of pillars of salt. Just too many people who cannot read or take it with humor.
Especially when politics are involved. I thought the New Yorker magazine did worse than me.
"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."
by 16to80endzone on Jul 17, 2008 1:00 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don’t want you to think that I took your comments wrongly. I know how you write and vaguely understand your process, so I was neither surprised nor offended, but what’s important as far as I’m concerned is that the fact remains that such comments will be taken wrongly, whether in or out of context, whether familiar or unfamiliar with your stylings, by somebody, because politics in this day and age are just too polarizing. And because of that, being able to say “I didn’t mean harm, so thicken that skin, son!” just doesn’t, and justifiably can’t cut it.
So even if you don’t mean harm, and don’t write the comments intending offense, the mere fact of those comments regardless of intention will be instigatory. And it is the effects of that instigation that I don’t think are appropriate on this website (a criteria based on Fooch oftentimes classifying political debates as inappropriate for this website).
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Jul 17, 2008 2:26 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Which is why...
in is NFL football, and out are politics.
"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."
by 16to80endzone on Jul 17, 2008 9:49 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The Gore question is a tough one. On the one hand, he doesn’t have the career totals to compete for the spot. On the other, he has single season totals to rival anyone, and a projectable future with the team (as much as one can have with a RB). It reminds me of the question of whether Shaq should’ve been included in the NBA’s Top 50 Players of All-Time even though he hadn’t been in the league long. he made the team as much on potential as he did on achievement.
In the end, I think Gore should be included for 3 reasons: 1) Gore’s 2006 season is arguably the greatest in team history at RB, 2) Craig put up a good portion of his career numbers (from 1983 to midway through 1986) at FB , 3) I love me some Frank Gore (I’m a long-time Miami Hurricane fan who’s been following his career closely since he averaged 8+ yards a carry as a freshman, before ripping up his knee).
"I been waitin' a long time for this! I been waitin' since the f**kin' amateurs!" --WILL "THE THRILL" CLARK
by Josh from Hollywood on Jul 17, 2008 12:55 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Correction
Had to go look it up just to be sure, and it turns out I sold Frank way short—he averaged 11.3 yards per carry as a Freshman. 854 yards and 8 TD’s on only 62 carries. That deserves a “wow”.
"I been waitin' a long time for this! I been waitin' since the f**kin' amateurs!" --WILL "THE THRILL" CLARK
by Josh from Hollywood on Jul 17, 2008 1:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wow.
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Jul 17, 2008 2:28 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
I remember seeing highlights.
Everyone thought they were making a big deal out of Clarett during his time. Gore was getting just as much attention, if not more.
by sfgfan on Jul 17, 2008 9:08 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Holy crap, yes.
I just deleted a comment where I was talking about the possibility of Ricky Watters.
Then I looked at his stats as a 49ers. And based on that, then if I was even THINKING of Ricky Watters in this discussion, Gore has to be an absolute lock.
I’ve seen people (person?) HERE argue that Watters was a better 49er than Garrison Hearst. Having looked at the stats, and remembering my fondness for Hearst, I suddenly find that position completely indefensible…
My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.
by howtheyscored on Jul 17, 2008 2:38 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Sometimes...
we have to look at who scored FIVE touchdowns in one game. Who did?
Ricky Watters.
"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."
by 16to80endzone on Jul 17, 2008 9:47 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
One game...
... does not an all-time great make. While I think Watters was one of the more memorable RBs in 49ers history, I’d be more inclined to think of Gore as an all-time 49er great before I think of Watters in that light.
by sfgfan on Jul 17, 2008 9:54 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Five touchdowns no easy feat..
When a player scores five touchdowns in a game, that automatically elevates his game to greatness. Watters played very well. I have seen him in the Pro Bowl and he is really crisp and fast. Zoom from one end to another, catches the ball, and zoom again. He had the ability to be distracted off the field but focused on the field.
"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."
by 16to80endzone on Jul 17, 2008 10:57 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Really?
It’s not common for a player to score 5 TDs in a game, let alone a playoff game, I’ll give you that. But that one feat should not immortalize an otherwise fairly unspectacular running back. The Giants had a very bad day. Heck, so bad so that Marc Logan (the fullback) gain 40 yards on 9 carries.
I’m not saying the performance wasn’t special. It indeed was. Accounting for 75% of your team’s points in a playoff game is a performance worth remembering. It does not, however, make you an all-time great. Aside from TDs, Gore’s first three seasons as a 49er have been better than Watters’ first three years. Heck, if the 49ers hadn’t had that delusional thought that Kevan “Happy Feet” Barlow was a #1 running back IN ANY SCHEME, Gore may have accumulated even more to push him further ahead of Watters in that regard.
Of course, this is not to say that Frank is a guaranteed all-time great. Barring any serious injury, though, he’ll be a heck of a lot closer than Watters was.
by sfgfan on Jul 17, 2008 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Don't forget OJ
OJ would whoop the shit out of Watters, on the field and in a knife fight.
by methodrampage on Jul 17, 2008 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
good call
The Juice is a tough one.
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by Fooch on Jul 17, 2008 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
The Juice..
or was juiced up? Just kidding. He’s a thug of a football player. Consorts with thugs. That is his M.O.
He had talent, with a holster on his belt.
"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."
by 16to80endzone on Jul 17, 2008 10:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Honestly,
a coward is one who brings his thugs to the fight, Watters is man enough to stand up for himself on his own.
"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."
by 16to80endzone on Jul 17, 2008 11:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Out of the same backfield..
I’d love to have the four running backs on the 2008 roster:
1. Roger Craig
2. Garrison Hearst
3. Frank Gore
4. Ricky Watters
It would be heaven for the quarterbacks and marshmallow for the Martz offense. Heard of dogs in heaven? There it is, you can picture it!
"We Have a God who delights in impossibilities."
by 16to80endzone on Jul 17, 2008 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
yes
Plain and simple Frank Gore is a beast (and from what I hear a pretty good guy off the field as well, I think Maiocco said “he’s the type of guy you find yourself rooting for in life” )
While my vote will most likely go to Roger Craig based on the fact that he is an all-time great and was a big piece in a few 9er Superbowls, Frank definitely deserves to be bunched up there with the 49er greats.
Simply by pulling on both ends, Patrick Willis can stretch diamonds back into coal
by 49erLou on Jul 17, 2008 9:02 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
A bit off topic
But someone mentioned that one year for a player wouldn’t necessarily garner them inclusion into the discussion for an All-time team. I would tend to agree but it made me think of last years New England team. Would one superior year not at least merit inclusion for Randy Moss? Single season record for yards and TDs (nearly doubling the team record 23 to 12), third in team history for catches. I think it would eventually end up with Morgan as the #1 and Fryar as the #2 on the all-time team, but you would have to include Moss in the discussion IMO.
Back to the real topic—yes I think Gore should be included even though he won’t win the spot.
by lacrosse_cat on Jul 17, 2008 11:28 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
well said
If someone has such a spectacular year as moss than I think you can include them. Gore had a good year and wouldn’t be included based on that one year though.
when will the Kenny Thomas Reign of Terror end?!!??
by diehardkingsfan5 on Jul 17, 2008 1:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
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