In this morning's Golden Nuggets I posted a link to an SI.com interview with 49ers RB Frank Gore. It's an interesting article that focuses in on Jim Harbaugh coming in and of course the 49ers decision to draft Kendall Hunter. Gore is ready for the competition and thinks that with Harbaugh and Roman running the offense he'll be able to show the world why he's the best running back in the league.
This interviews follows a Maiocco article from two days ago in which he described Gore as the most intelligent football player he's ever been around:
Gore might be the most intelligent football player I've been around. Smith told me that Gore only has to see a play once to "get it down cold." Former 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan once said he would consider hiring Gore as a scout once his playing career was over.
When Gore is interviewed on television he sometimes appears to be mumbling a bit and it can be hard to hear him. It's not surprising that some people take that, combined with his low Wonderlic score, and make the assumption he's not a very bright individual. This would not appear to be the case. This isn't exactly shocking information, but it's nice to see something like this confirmed by the media.
If you want one more small bit of evidence Gore is smarter than one might otherwise think, check out his response when asked about James Harrison's comments on Roger Goodell:
SI.com: How much truth was there in James Harrison's most recent rant?
Gore: Hold up, what happened? I haven't heard anything about that.
SI.com: Well he called Roger Goodell a devil and a puppet. He said he wouldn't piss on him if he were on fire. And he called out Ben Roethlisberger to stop trying to act like Peyton Manning and said Rashard Mendenhall is a fumble machine.
Gore: I have no comments to that. He's a great defensive player but I've got no comments to that. He had his ups and downs and took his fines.
It's only a matter of him saying no comment, but given the way some players seem to have little trouble spouting off without thinking, I think Frank the Tank deserves a little credit on this one.