SANTA CLARA – Frank Gore’s induction the 49ers’ Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. Hall of Fame comes with a requisite bronzed statue of him clutching a football tightly in his right arm while legs are frozen in time as the NFL’s third all-time leading rusher.
A decade after Gore’s final season as the 49ers’ franchise rushing leader, he returned to Levi’s Stadium for the 49ers’ season-opening festivities, including Sunday night’s private enshrinement and Monday’s ceremony in front of a sold out crowd at halftime of the 49ers’ opener against the New York Jets.
While his statue settles inside the 49ers’ museum, a bronze bust of Gore is expected to join football’s all-time greats in Canton, Ohio once he is elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for which he becomes eligible in 2026.
“I can’t wait. It’s the first one. But you’ve got to talk me up, man,” Gore said in a pregame news conference. “Two more years, hopefully I’ll get that call.”
Gore knows he has some tough competition on that 2026 ballot with fellow first-time candidates in Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald and Adam Vinatieri.
“That would be special but I just want to get in,” said Gore, who attended this summer’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction of former teammate Patrick Willis (in his fifth year of eligibility).
Gore canvassed NFL fields for 16,000 yards over 16 seasons, including a 49ers-record 11,073 yards from 2005-14 before finishing his career with four other teams over six more seasons. Not bad for a third-round draft pick who came out of college having had surgeries on both knees and both shoulders.
“For real, it wasn’t easy to get here. It took a lot to even get drafted,” Gore said. “People told me I wouldn’t even be here two years, and I played 16, with the way I loved the game, the way I worked and the way I was raised by my mom.”
Gore’s most memorable game came right after his mother, Liz, died at age 46 in 2007. The 49ers were playing in St. Louis, and they won that Week 2 game 17-16 with the help of his 43-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1.
“That Rams game was tough. It was hard because every game I got a call from her, and that call didn’t come,” Gore recalled. “It was hard to get up, no matter what I did. When she was first in the hospital and got sick, I was in junior high school, and when I went to visit her, she told me to go play. I did what I knew she wanted me to do.
“I remember fourth-and-1 getting a big touchdown to help us win the game I felt she was with me on that play.”
Gore’s biggest regret is never winning a Super Bowl for the 49ers, though his two touchdown runs helped deliver the NFC Championship win at Atlanta with a 2012 team that included Willis, Alex Smith and Vernon Davis. “We became one of the best teams in the NFL, and we had the same guys everyone used to laugh at,” Gore recalled. “weWhad the opportunity to show everybody what we were all about.”
Gore is in his second season working as a personnel advisor, often canvassing the country with scouting director Josh Williams and charting keen-eye evaluations into his iPhone’s notes app.
Gore said of the 2024 team’s outlook: “We’ll be fine. I knew the offseason was kind of crazy but these guys have been playing together a couple of years. They’re veteran guys and know what it takes. I know people are worrying about Trent (Williams) and (Brandon) Aiyuk but they’ll be OK or won’t play. We’ll be fine. We have a great group, a talented team and hopefully we get this ‘W.’ ”
Sunday night, Gore was presented a customary, red jacket for his 49ers Hall of Fame before some 200 guests inside one of the stadium’s clubs. He delivered a heartfelt and humorous speech, giving thanks to Smith, Willis and his former fullback, Moran Norris. Emotions poured from Gore’s soul as he expressed gratitude to the York family – the 49ers’ majority owners for 25 years – and made sure his kids knew that “daddy loves you.”
Gore expanded on his connection with Denise DeBartolo York during Monday’s news conference: “She told me last night that I’m her third son, and I believer her, because anytime I called she picked up, and she’d call me to ask about my family and how I was doing. Even when I left, she told me, ‘Son, go get a Super Bowl.’ That was big to me. … She’s special person, special person, and a special lady in my life.”
NOTES
Left tackle Trent Williams was activated off the reserve/did-not-report list three hours before kickoff. Offensive tackle Brandon Parker was released in a corresponding move. … Defensive end Sam Okuayinonu and safety Tracy Walker III were activated off the practice squad.
