Frank Gore keeps inspiring these posts. Yesterday, Frank Gore rushed for 65 yards, which gives him 19,155 yards from scrimmage for his career, moving him into 4th-place on the all-time list.
| Rank | Player | Scrimmage Yards | Years | Tm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerry Rice+ | 23,540 | 1985-2004 | 3TM |
| 2 | Emmitt Smith+ | 21,579 | 1990-2004 | 2TM |
| 3 | Walter Payton+ | 21,264 | 1975-1987 | chi |
| 4 | Frank Gore | 19,155 | 2005-2019 | 4TM |
| 5 | Marshall Faulk+ | 19,154 | 1994-2005 | 2TM |
| 6 | LaDainian Tomlinson+ | 18,456 | 2001-2011 | 2TM |
| 7 | Barry Sanders+ | 18,190 | 1989-1998 | det |
| 8 | Marcus Allen+ | 17,654 | 1982-1997 | 2TM |
| 9 | Curtis Martin+ | 17,430 | 1995-2005 | 2TM |
| 10 | Larry Fitzgerald | 16,940 | 2004-2019 | crd |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
This was also his 149th game with at least 50 rushing yards, which moved him alone into 2nd place in that category, too.
| Rk | Player | From | To | Tm | W | L | T | W-L% | 50+ Rush Yd G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emmitt Smith* | 1990 | 2004 | DAL/ARI | 112 | 61 | 0 | .647 | 173 |
| 2 | Frank Gore | 2005 | 2019 | SFO/MIA/IND/BUF | 89 | 59 | 1 | .601 | 149 |
| 3 | Walter Payton* | 1975 | 1987 | CHI | 94 | 54 | 0 | .635 | 148 |
| 4 | Curtis Martin* | 1995 | 2005 | NYJ/NWE | 82 | 53 | 0 | .607 | 135 |
| 5 | Barry Sanders* | 1989 | 1998 | DET | 67 | 61 | 0 | .523 | 128 |
| 6 | Jerome Bettis* | 1993 | 2005 | PIT/RAM/STL | 83 | 44 | 0 | .654 | 127 |
| 7 | LaDainian Tomlinson* | 2001 | 2011 | SDG/NYJ | 80 | 45 | 0 | .640 | 125 |
| 8 | Tony Dorsett* | 1977 | 1988 | DAL/DEN | 86 | 33 | 0 | .723 | 119 |
| 9 | Franco Harris* | 1972 | 1984 | PIT/SEA | 92 | 26 | 1 | .777 | 119 |
| 10 | Adrian Peterson | 2007 | 2019 | MIN/ARI/WAS | 69 | 48 | 1 | .589 | 118 |
Gore is 17 touches away from 4,000 touches, and 20 touches away from moving ahead of Curtis Martin into third place on that all-time list, too. But the stat that everyone is talking about now is that Gore moved ahead of Barry Sanders into third-place on the all-time rushing list.
| Rank | Player | Rushing Yards | Years | Tm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emmitt Smith+ | 18,355 | 1990-2004 | 2TM |
| 2 | Walter Payton+ | 16,726 | 1975-1987 | chi |
| 3 | Frank Gore | 15,289 | 2005-2019 | 4TM |
| 4 | Barry Sanders+ | 15,269 | 1989-1998 | det |
| 5 | Curtis Martin+ | 14,101 | 1995-2005 | 2TM |
| 6 | Adrian Peterson | 13,861 | 2007-2019 | 4TM |
| 7 | LaDainian Tomlinson+ | 13,684 | 2001-2011 | 2TM |
| 8 | Jerome Bettis+ | 13,662 | 1993-2005 | 2TM |
| 9 | Eric Dickerson+ | 13,259 | 1983-1993 | 4TM |
| 10 | Tony Dorsett+ | 12,739 | 1977-1988 | 2TM |
| 11 | Jim Brown+ | 12,312 | 1957-1965 | cle |
And while Gore was not as dominant as Sanders or Smith or Payton, in some ways that makes what he’s done more remarkable. The graph below shows the career rushing yards, after game X, for each of the players who rank in the top 5 in career rushing yards. Nobody but Hall of Fame running backs can keep producing after 150 games, but that’s what Gore has done. He was never as talented as Sanders or Payton, but his durability, toughness, and consistency is just as remarkable as the talent that those two backs had.
Prior to Gore, only three running backs — Emmitt Smith, John Riggins, and Walter Payton — rushed for over 5,000 yards in their 30s. All are Hall of Famers, as are two (Marcus Allen, John Henry Johnson) who came up just short of the post-30, 5K mark. Gore had an excellent career in his 20s, and then became the best running back in his 30s in NFL history. The graph below shows the 100 leaders in rushing yards in history. The X-Axis shows career rushing yards in a player’s 20s; the Y-Axis shows career rushing yards in a player’s 30s.
You can spot Gore pretty easily, since he’s at the top of the graph in in 49ers colors. He was a very good back in his 20s, but his durability compared to even the all-time greats is astounding. Consider that Gore ranks 20th in career rushing yards through age 29. The 19 backs ahead of him rushed for an average of 10,758 yards in their 20s, and then 2,024 yards in their 30s. Gore rushed for 8,839 yards in his 20s, and is at 6,450 and counting in his 30s.
And one of my favorite Gore stats: he is leading the 2019 Bills in rushing yards, which would be the 15th time in his 15-year career that he’s been his team’s leading rusher. Nobody has done that, not even Emmitt Smith.