It’s a big day for one of the greatest running backs in NFL history! Happy birthday to Frank Gore! Frank the Tank, The Inconvenient Truth, whatever you want to call him, turns 34 today.
The eventual 49ers Hall of Famer, and hopefully Pro Football Hall of Famer continues to chug along, even as he reaches an age where many running backs have already broken down. Gore does not have many more years left, but with some offseason improvements in Indianapolis, a 1,000-yard season is not out of the question. He rushed for 1,025 yards last year after 967 in 2015.
Gore enters the 2017 season with 13,065 yards, good for eighth on the all-time rushing leaderboard. If he does rush for 1,000 yards, he would move into sole possession of fifth place, and be 36 yards back of Curtis Martin for fourth all-time.
If Gore did surpass 1,000 yards this season, he would be only the third running back in NFL history to reach that mark after his 34th birthday. 49ers great John Henry Johnson did it in 1964 (with the Steelers) at the age of 35, and John Riggins did it in 1984, also at the age of 35. Last season, Gore joined those two plus Franco Harris as the only running backs to surpass 1,000 yards after his 33rd birthday.
Whether or not Gore can get to 1,000 yards this year, happy birthday to a 49ers legend!