Frank Gore: RB Depth Shows Strength of Roster

DALLAS – If you're looking for a little Internet entertainment, do yourself a favor and search “Frank Gore Boxing” on YouTube.

Take a few minutes and watch clips of the San Francisco 49ers all-time rushing king being an active ring technician. You can see a sweaty 5-foot-9 athlete sparring with a trainer, bopping up and down with Floyd Mayweather-like movements.

Needless to say, Gore still has plenty of fight left in him.

The running back with 9,967 rushing yards and seven, 1,000-yard seasons in nine years with San Francisco, has been working out in a boxing ring for some time. Come to find out, the offseason training method has helped prolong a masterful NFL career that is now entering year 10 for the former third-round draft pick in 2005.

“It keeps me on my feet,” Gore told 49ers.com earlier this month at Michael Crabtree’s youth football camp. “You get less pounding and also, it’s great cardio.”

Gore attended San Francisco’s nine-week offseason program that concluded last week, but he was held out of team drills so that his younger teammates could maximize opportunities on the field.

The lack of on-field work was fine with Gore.

When he’s not supporting a deep 49ers running back group with tips and encouragement, Gore was mixing in his sparring sessions away from the facility.

“I’m doing three minutes with only 30 seconds of rest,” Gore said. “I think that’s tougher than football training. It’s a challenge.”

Gore’s running back understudies appear to be something different, as in being the deepest group of backs on a single 49ers roster since Gore was drafted.

“I love it,” Gore said of the running back stable that now includes Kendall Hunter, LaMichael James, Marcus Lattimore and second-round draft pick Carlos Hyde nipping at his heels for carries.

“I just feel that it lets you know how much better our team is,” Gore continued. “Before I got here, it wasn’t like that. Now, each year there’s more competition so that lets you know how much better we are as a team.”

Hyde, who is the newest of the bunch and is looking to model his all-around game after Gore’s style of play, received praise from the elder statesman of the 49ers offense.

“We’re getting better each day,” Gore said. “Even the young running back we just drafted, Carlos, he’s doing a great job out there.”

It remains to be seen how much action Hyde will experience at training camp when it’s Gore’s turn to ready himself for another Super Bowl run.

“Training camp, I think that’s where it counts,” Gore said of San Francisco’s upcoming position battles.

“It should be fun.”


(49ers.com)