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Former 49ers RB Frank Gore Will be Hall of Fame Eligible in 2026

One more year.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers former running back Frank Gore speaks to the crowd after being inducted into the San Francisco 49ers hall of fame during halftime against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers former running back Frank Gore speaks to the crowd after being inducted into the San Francisco 49ers hall of fame during halftime against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

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One more year.

In 2026, former 49ers running back Frank Gore will be eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here are the other players who will be eligible: Larry Fitzgerald, Drew Brees, Julian Edelman, Jason Witten, Philip Rivers, LeSean McCoy, Maurkice Pouncey, Greg Olsen, Thomas Davis, Alex Smith, Dez Bryant, Stephen Gostkowski, Geno Atkins, David DeCastro, Mike Pouncey, Sean Lee, Todd Gurley and Jurrell Casey.

Gore has a legitimate chance to get inducted. He currently is the NFL's third-leading rusher of all time -- only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton have more career rushing yards than Gore. In addition, Gore gained at least 1,200 yards from scrimmage in 12 consecutive seasons, an NFL record. Jerry Rice was the previous record holder.

Gore never was the consensus best running back in the league during his prime -- that would have been Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Jamaal Charles or even LeSean McCoy. But Gore outlasted all of them. And Gore played on some terrible teams with stone-age passing attacks that forced him to run into eight-man boxes more than almost any other running back.

And to think he fell to the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft because he tore his ACL in college. Teams thought he wouldn't stay healthy in the NFL. Turns out he was one of the most durable running backs ever, which is impressive considering running backs generally don't last long.

Gore might not make it into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, but he should make it in sooner or later. He earned it.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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