In 1977, the Kansas City Chiefs went 2-10. This was during one of the worst passing seasons in NFL history, the season that encouraged the 1978 rules changes. Quarterback Mike Livingston went 1-10 as the starter and he was about as bad as his record. Kansas City brought him back as the team’s starter in 1978, but changed coaches, bringing in Marv Levy. The future Bills coach inherited a terrible team in Kansas City that was particularly inexperienced on defense: all three starters on the defensive line were rookies, as was one of the linebackers; two other starters were ’77 draft picks, and another two starters were 24-year old players drafted in 1976. That’s 8 of 11 starters on defense that were 24 or younger, to go with a a bad passing attack centered around Livingston, and WRs Henry Marshall and Larry Dorsey.
So what did Levy do? He decided to install the Wing-T offense, centered around three halfbacks, a tight end, and Marshall at split end. Kansas City had Tony Reed as the starting halfback, Arnold Morgando as the fullback, and Ted McKnight as the Wingback as part of a ball-controlled offense designed to keep the young defense (and weak passing game) off the field. But on October 1st, 1978, it was veteran backup Macarthur Lane — with the emphasis on veteran — that powered the offense. Lane rushed 17 times for 144 yards in a game where Livingston and backup Tony Adams combined to complete 9 of 21 passes for just 83 yards.
So why is this noteworthy today? Well, on October 1st, Lane was 36 years and 199 days old. Playing in that Wing-T offense, he became the oldest player to ever rush for 100 yards in a game. And yesterday, Frank Gore nearly matched him. The ageless Gore rushed 17 times for 109 yards in a Bills loss to the Patriots. He wasn’t aided by a Wing-T offense, but the 36 year, 138-day old back did his best to keep the Bills alive on a day where the passing attack was a disaster (averaging 1.22 ANY/A).
And historians, take note: Gore will be 36 years and over 200 days old for the Bills four games in December, making him eligible to set the new record for the oldest player to rush for 100 yards in a game.
Running to Barry
Gore also eclipsed the 15,000-yard mark for his career yesterday, which is astounding. He now has Barry Sanders in his sights, which is hard to imagine. The Lions great rushed for over 15,000 yards before retiring at the age of 30; after Gore’s age-30 season, he hadn’t even hit the 10,000-yard mark. And yet, it seems inevitable that Gore will soon pass Sanders: he is currently 249 rushing yards away.
It’s also remarkable to think about Gore in the context of say, Adrian Peterson. Gore is two years older than Peterson and entered the NFL two years before him as well; despite that, Peterson had already passed Gore in career rushing yards as of the end of the 2013 season. At that time, Peterson had just finished his age 28 season, was the better player, and had a lead on Gore. You would never have guessed that it would be Gore who not only would wind up with more career rushing yards than Peterson, but at this rate, it looks like Gore will outlast him, too.
The graph below shows the career rushing yards through Age X for each of Sanders (in Lions blue-and-silver), Peterson (in Vikings purple-and-yellow), and Gore (in 49ers red-and-gold). The fact that Gore is going to wind up with the most career rushing yards of this trio is a real life version of the little engine that could:
Finally, let’s close with one more fun graph. This shows the number of rushing yards gained by Gore in every game of his career, color-coded by his time with the 49ers, Colts, Dolphins, and now Bills. His consistency is simply amazing:
For awhile, I thought Gore’s case to make the Hall of Fame was overblown. But he’s worn me down, too. I now think he’s a Hall of Fame running back, because he’s done things that are jaw-dropping. He’s rushed for 50+ yards in a game in 146 games (third-most ever), and yesterday, he passed Jerome Bettis and Eric Dickerson to move into 7th-place on the all-time list of games with at least 75 rushing yards. On the day he moves past Sanders on the career rushing yards list, he may also move past Marshall Faulk on the all-time yards from scrimmage list (he’s 310 yards away). That would put him in 4th place there, behind three of the game’s all-time greats. For Gore, his consistency and durability are legendary, and that makes him a Hall of Famer to me.