Frank Gore: A Player Who Redefined a NFL Stereotype

Frank Gore was born May 14, 1983 in Miami, Florida. He spent his youth in Coconut Grove,
Florida where he went to school all throughout high school. Gore was a star running back and
was no stranger to breaking records. One game in particular, he went from having a career high
293 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries to breaking the record with 319 yards and six
touchdowns on 13 carries. Known for his tremendous athletic ability, he was named the number
1 prospect in Dade County by The Miami Herald, number 4 in Florida and number 5 in the
nation. Gore chose his college based on what was best for the situation he was in at the time. His
mother was battling kidney disease and had started dialysis treatments, so he decided to stay
close to home and attend the University of Miami. Gores freshman year athletically was a
breeze, he totaled 820 yards with twelve touchdowns on 62 carries. In fact, he has the third best
season total in school history as a freshman and was named Sporting News Big East Freshman
of the Year. By the end of his senior year, in 28 total games, he had rushed 380 times for 1,975
yards and seventeen touchdowns. He also caught 25 passes for 985 yards, returned two kickoffs
for 48 yards and recorded five tackles on special teams.
The most crucial fault in Gores football career was a key element of his drafting into the NFL,
the Wonderlic test. The Wonderlic tests the intellectual capability of players who are coming into
the league. This test is a small portion of the NFL draft but is said to give a clear picture of how
your career will turn out for yourself. Frank Gore was not one of the lucky guys taking the test,
scoring a 6. There have been many great players to come into the league and do great on the
Wonderlic and also there have been players who have come in and bombed the test. For some,
unfortunately, a lot of African American players, have not done well on the test and have been
put into a box saying that these players will not succeed in the NFL. But, Frank Gore did not let
that stop him from achieving his goal to play in the league.
Selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL Draft, Frank Gore played 14 games his first
season. He finished his season seventh among NFL rookie running backs with a whopping 4.8
yards per run. He was the leading rusher with 608 yards on 127 carries and three rushing
touchdowns. Dexter Carter was the last rookie to lead the 49ers in rushing in 1990. 608 rushing
yards was the highest for a 49ers rookie since Roger Craig rushed 725 yards in 1983. In 2011,
Gore agreed to a three year extension with the 49ers worth $25.9 million. By 2014, Gore was
going into the season only needing 33 yards to hit the 10,000 yard mark for his career. He was
now the 29th player in NFL History to pass the 10,000 career yard mark. Gore, throughout the
season, would continue to improve passing some NFL greats like Tiki Barber, Jamal Lewis and
Warrick Dunn. His final game with the 49ers, he rushed for 144 yards and 25 carries. He ended
his season with 255 carries, 1,106 rushing yards, and 4 TDs and became the 20th player in NFL
history to rush for 11,000 career rushing yards.
Frank Gore never let what anyone said about him being not ready for the NFL, not being smart
enough to handle the NFL, and not being capable of success stop him from achieving his goal in
becoming a stud running back in the league. He is a very influential player to not only AfricanAmerican running backs but also young players in general because he a true example of hard
work does pay off if you never give up hope. Frank Gore continues to excel even in his late years
with the Indianapolis Colts. Frank Gore does not allow a possibility to be racially stacked stop
him from living out his NFL dream.