Frank Gore Unquestionably Belongs in the Hall of Fame

I'm going to stop all this nonsense right here: Yes, Frank Gore belongs in the NFL Hall of Fame. Over the past few weeks a few pundits have claimed Gore is more of a "Hall of Very Good" type guy, but that's wrong. He absolutely belongs in the hall.

Frank Gore is still playing running back in the NFL, and while he's hidden under the national radar this season with the Buffalo Bills, he passed a huge milestone on Sunday. Gore moved into third place on the NFL's all-time rushing list, passing Barry Sanders. Once you're that high on the list, I don't care who you are, you're getting into the Hall of Fame.

Jim Rome agrees with me:

Gore doesn't have a lot of sexy accolades, but longevity is a skill and a big part of the consideration. The 36-year-old is still an effective NFL back and has gone over 1,200 yards from scrimmage 12 times, the most in NFL history. He's topped 500 rushing yards 15 times, 600 rushing yards 14 times and 700 yards 13 times, all of those are NFL records.

He's one of just four NFL running backs with 15,000 career rushing yards, joining Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton and Sanders. He's also one of just five running backs in NFL history to have at least nine 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Those are all elite numbers.

Gore is the all-time leading rusher for the San Francisco 49ers (11,073) and he dealt with some awful teams during his 10 seasons with the team. He spent three years with the Indianapolis Colts and one with the Miami Dolphins before landing in Buffalo this year. It's safe to say he's been on a number of bad teams in his career, but he's still managed to perform at a high level.

Look, Gore has been around a long time and I understand he's not a sexy name for the Hall of Fame. But since his rookie year in 2005, he's has been one of the most versatile and consistent running backs in NFL history. His 15,289 career rushing yards are impressive, but so are his 464 career receptions for 3,866 yards. He's closing in on 20,000 career yards from scrimmage. There's no way you can leave a guy like that out of the Hall of Fame.

Frank Gore's resume is absolutely Hall of Fame-worthy. Any arguments to the contrary are just silly.