With a new head coach comes a slew of changes to a football team. New assistants, new playbooks, new locker room arrangements; it's like hitting the proverbial reset button on a bunch of routine-driven athletes. It's important to try and keep some things the same among all the unfamiliarity, especially with the pillars of your franchise; such as the San Francisco 49ers and they pro-bowl running back Frank Gore. The contract extension giving to Frank wasn't only a good idea for this year's team, but for many years to come, even after Frank is long retired.
Gore's three-year $21 million dollar deal gives the team some stability behind center as the quaterback position will likely be a question mark for most of the season as the Alex Smith experiment enters it's 24th year. Frank missed the last five games of the season in 2010 but still rushed for 853 yards, although that was under the Mike Singletary "all we do is run" game plan. Gore currently sits only 931 yards shy of Joe 'the Jet' Perry for the all time rushing leader in 49ers history. He could easily overtake that record this year, but he's still got three years to do it.
You can look at his numbers, or you can just watch him play, Frank is probably one of the best RB's this franchise has ever had. He's a fan favorite and a team leader, and it would have looked terrible if the Niners let him walk. He easily could go down as one of the best to ever put on the Red and Gold, become a 49ers legend. Here's what CSN Bay Area's Matt Maiocco had to say about it.
What makes Gore special is his single-minded drive to be the best all-around running back in the game. He is closing in on the 49ers' all-time rushing record. He has also led the 49ers in receptions during his career...Gore is also willing to do the thankless aspects of his job, most notably his role in picking up blitzes as a pass-protector.
He epitomizes what the team wants from the other 52 players in the locker room.
Any way you slice it, the Niners need Frank Gore. Thankfully they'll have him for the next few years.
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