The Jets over the years have been known to value a great running back in their offense. They drafted Freeman McNeil in 1980, acquired Curtis Martin as a restricted free agent in '98, brought in Le'Veon Bell before last season, and tapped into Thomas Jones, LaDainian Tomlinson and others in the later stages of their storied careers.
Now the Jets have added Frank Gore to their RBs depth chart. No question Gore is near the end of his football, considering he turns 37 years of age on May 14 and will be entering his 16th season in the NFL in the fall.
But as Adam Gase, who worked with him in San Francisco in '08 and coached him with Miami in '18, said last September, before the Jets opened the season against his then-new team, the Bills:
"He still looks like he's 25 somehow, no idea how. If you watched him work day in and day out, it wouldn't surprise you. We would always say, 'Hey, we think you should take today off,' and he's like, 'Wednesdays, I'm practicing.' And he wants every rep. You're in full pads and he's going at it like it's Sunday. That's just how he's always been. There's no other place he'd rather be than the practice field, gameday. Everything about football, he loves."
Loving football, Gore has compiled some crazy numbers, records and distinctions. Here are six of them:
1. Gore currently has 15,347 rushing yards, No. 3 in the NFL all-time and No. 1 among active runners. And with a mere 1,380 more rush yards, he would surpass Walter Payton's 16,726 yards and move into second behind only Emmitt Smith at 18,355 on the big list.
2. Add Gore's receiving yards to his total and he's at 19,243 scrimmage yards for his career. That's fourth all-time, behind only Payton, Smith and No. 1, Jerry Rice. With 757 scrimmage yards, Gore would become only the fourth player to reach 20,000 for his career.
3. Yes it's true that with Gore, three of the current top seven rushing-yardage backs in NFL history have spent at least part of their time as Jets. In fact, it goes even deeper than that — eight of the top 50 NFL runners have played for the Green & White. Here's that list, including Gore who of course has yet to suit up with the Jets:
| Rank | Back | JetsYrs | JetsYdg | NFLYdg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Frank Gore | 2020 | 0 | 15,347 |
| 6 | Curtis Martin | 1998-2005 | 10,302 | 14,101 |
| 7 | LaDainian Tomlinson | 2010-11 | 1,194 | 13,684 |
| 19 | John Riggins | 1971-75 | 3,880 | 11,352 |
| 26 | Thomas Jones | 2007-09 | 3,833 | 10,591 |
| 33 | Matt Forté | 2016-17 | 1,194 | 9,796 |
| 35 | Chris Johnson | 2014 | 663 | 9,651 |
| 50 | Freeman McNeil | 1981-92 | 8,074 | 8,074 |
4. Gore is the NFL's active leader not only in rush yards but in rush attempts (3,548), offensive touches (4,016) and YFS. And he's second in all-purpose yards, with his 19,250 (which includes only 7 kick-return yards), trailing Darren Sproles' 19,696 by 446 yards.
5. Gore set the NFL record with 15 straight seasons of 500-plus rushing yards. He started out with 608 yards as a 49ers rookie in 2005, and most recently gained 599 yards with the Bills. In fact, had he gained just one more yard last year, we could have reworded the record by saying he's had 15 straight seasons of 600-plus rush yards.
6. And he set the league mark with with 15 consecutive seasons of 125-plus rushing attempts. And, following is 127 carries as that 49ers rookie, he's gone 14 straight years with 150-plus carries.
