Frank Gore Solidifying His Spot as One Of NFL's Top Running Backs

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Two weeks into the 2009 NFL season, 49ers' running back Frank Gore already has experienced his nightmare and dream scenarios. And both keep him up at night.

There was the horror of rushing for only 30 yards in the season-opening victory against the Arizona Cardinals. And then there was the validation of dominating the Seahawks' defense and producing 207 yards, a career-high 246 scrimmage yards and two of the longest scoring runs of his career, 79 and 80 yards, in a Week 2 victory at Candlestick Park.

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"He calls after the game, which is the only time I have to sleep. He calls and I have to talk to him. Win or lose, he calls,'' said a laughing 49ers offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye, who is in his first year working with Gore, but already has experienced the intense passion with which the fifth-year power rusher approaches the game.

Gore will square off against the NFL's leading rusher Sunday, Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson, at the Metrodome, in a showdown between unbeaten teams and the conference's top-two running backs. Peterson, who is listed as probable despite a sore back, has 272 rushing yards. Gore, who is probable with a sore ankle, has 237.

For the 49ers, it's a chance to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 1998. And while 49ers' coach Mike Singletary is adamant he doesn't want this to be a Peterson vs. Gore showdown, it will be impossible to completely prevent his emotionally charged running back from focusing on the matchup.

"I'm not gonna make this me against Adrian Peterson -- I just want us to win," says Gore, who earned his fourth NFC Player of the Week award last week and his first since Week 12 of 2007. "But I'll be watching him, and hopefully I'll keep this going. I'm just a guy who cares so much about the game and cares about what he does on the field."


Last week was a Gore masterpiece. The touchdown bursts of 79 and 80 yards, both breakaway charges through the gap, followed by afterburner sprints away from the Seahawks' secondary, put him in rare company -- he and Barry Sanders are the only two players in NFL history to have a pair of touchdown runs of at least 75 yards in one game.

"Everything just went perfect," says Gore, who posted his 16th career 100-yard performance in the win over Seattle. "Great blocking from the line, my fullback, the receivers. That's how it all comes together.

"Then for me, I feel even better when I get those yards, but I'm also blocking for my quarterback or doing something positive in the passing game."

In a league filled with me-first running backs, Gore, 26, is a refreshing, delightful throwback. He has few interests outside his job. But that dedication and focus comes at a price, Raye concedes.

"He just loves football. And it's important to him to be successful and to have his team be successful, and that's been a plus," says Raye, who finds himself tending to a player so obsessed with perfection, he can hardly tolerate anything less.

This is a running back so singularly focused on football and hitting the hole, he'll break down if he doesn't fulfill his own high expectations. The pain is palpable. "You try to learn how to handle that emotion better, but it always will hurt you inside if you're not performing," Gore admits.

Rewind to 2007, Gore's third season, following a 37-16 loss at Pittsburgh. After struggling to pound out 39 yards on 14 carries, Gore was so disconsolate afterward, he put his head on a reporter's shoulder and fought off tears of despair as he poured out his soul, talking about every yard fought for but lost.

Says Raye, "My approach is to have him understand that his performance is dependent on the coordination of 10 other people. As long as he's doing his part, his reads are correct and he's playing aggressive, he'll have ups and downs. But they'll be more goods than bads.

"Don't let your lows be so low and your highs be so high, which is a problem for Frank emotionally. It's not so much of a problem, but it's a part of who he is."

Gore says he's learning to better manage his often-fragile mental state after games.

"When I was younger, everything in my mind was tied to me getting big yards," he says. "Now, when things aren't there, if the other team is playing great defense and playing the run really well -- nah, I can't do that anymore."

As a standout back at the University of Miami, Gore experienced plenty of raw elation and anguish. In 2001, he rushed for 575 yards and five touchdowns on 62 carries as a true freshman. Then he shredded the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during spring practice in 2002, which cost him a year devoted to rehabilitation.

"Those things made me who I am; I don't take anything for granted out there," Gore says of his rise, stumble and return to greatness at Miami.

Today, he's learned that even the NFL's elite backs have bad days.

"Just watching other guys who are great, when they don't have big [rushing] days, but they'll do other things like blocking or catching the ball, you know? I had to realize that a lot of people game plan to stop the run," Gore says.

The Vikings no doubt will do that -- Minnesota's defense has allowed only two 100-yard individual rushers in the past 50 games (Steven Jackson in 2006; Ryan Grant in '07).

This is where the 49ers' improved run blocking comes in.

"I just try to get him just a little crease, and he gets the rest on his own," says fullback Moran Norris, who does a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes that Gore and the 49ers notice but casual fans may not. "When the line is blocking, I just get him that little crease."

Says Gore, "I just need something to work with. I see a crease, I hit it. Last week I looked back and I told myself, 'Just run straight ahead. They're just gonna have to catch me.' "

In 2006, Gore's breakout season as a full-time starter, he set a franchise record with 2,180 combined yards (1,695 rushing, 485 receiving), making him the NFC rushing champion and earning him All-Pro honors.

He's truly special, says Raye, who has worked with some of the league's most outstanding running backs in his 32 years as an NFL coach.

"Frank is deceptive. He's short, but he's not small. He has power and great initial quickness and change. And so you have to wrap him up, and he's quick in the hole. He has great second-level vision," Raye says. "He's very similar, competitive-wise, to Marcus Allen. He has a combination of Curtis Martin's shiftiness, but he has more speed than Curtis -- he has a second gear. He's like Eric Dickerson, but he's not that fast; when he breaks, he can go all the way like Eric could. He doesn't have Earl Campbell's brute strength, but he has vision like Earl did.

"So he's a combination of all of those guys that I've had. You take that and you couple it with his passion to be successful, and you've got a pretty good player."