How long can Frank Gore keep doing this?
That’s a question that many around the league ask every offseason as the aging, indestructible running back returns for yet another campaign. The 36-year-old Gore is entering his 15th season in the NFL. Now a member of the Buffalo Bills and coming off his most efficient season since 2012, Gore isn’t planning an exit from the game anytime soon. In fact, he’s playing his career by ear.
“I just go how I feel,” Gore told reporters at his football and cheer camp on Saturday, per the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “If I feel I can’t do it no more, then I call it.”
The Inconvenient Truth joined Buffalo this offseason after a one-year stint with his hometown Miami Dolphins. The decision to hop to the AFC East rival, Gore says, was an easy one.
“It was the second year where they came after me,” Gore said. “They showed that they wanted me again. In this league, especially at my age, you want to be wanted. That’s a factor that [went into the decision], especially coming off an injury.”
Gore is joining a Bills RB room led by fellow veteran LeSean McCoy and also populated by rookie Devin Singletary and former Jaguars back T.J. Yeldon. It’s unclear how carries or touches will be split among the tailbacks in Orchard Park.
Currently fourth on the all-time rushing list with 14,478 yards, Gore is just 521 rushing yards behind Lions legend Barry Sanders for third and 1,978 yards behind Bears great Walter Payton for second. Surpassing Sanders should be achievable in 2019, while passing Payton could take two or three more years.
That’s no problem for Gore. He’s in no rush.