Frank Gore Returns To Play For Miami Dolphins

He was born and raised in Miami. Became a star at the University of Miami. And now, as the 14th year of his underrated NFL career dawns, Frank Gore is again playing in Miami … for the Miami Dolphins.

At 34, most running backs have been ground down and worn out. Not Gore, a tireless worker who is expected to split time with the younger and faster Kenyan Drake. Gore attacks his job ferociously, which should be a help in a backfield that has lacked leadership and experience.

After 13 seasons – 10 of them in which he gained more than 1,000 yards and two where he exceeded 900 yards – Gore is back where it all started. The Dolphins are hosts on Thursday night to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their preseason opener and Gore is eager for that taste of home. Will it be different from what he has known in a career split so far between the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts?

“Yes, it will. I’m home. I’ve been born and raised here. Since Pop Warner, high school, college and now the NFL,” Gore said Monday at the Dolphins’ training camp in Davie, Florida. “I want to be successful this year. I want to do some great things for my city and for my team. I want to show guys that when they get up in age, if you love the game and you go out and work hard, it shouldn’t matter what age you are. That’s what my goal is this year.”

Gore, signed as a free agent, is the leading active rusher in the NFL (14,026 yards) and fifth all-time, a couple of breakaway runs from passing Curtis Martin (14,101).

The Dolphins have pulled this veteran trick before. It failed with Arian Foster. They’ve tried the tough, bruising back (Jay Ajayi) but cut him last year (only for him to go to the Philadelphia Eagles and help them win the Super Bowl).

Now? Gore, who hasn’t missed a game in six years, who just refuses to be replaced or unseated and never stops grinding.

“He’s just been proving everybody wrong for so many years,” Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. “You just never doubt that guy.”

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman