Bills RB Frank Gore Passes Barry Sanders, Takes Third Place on All-Time List

Sunday afternoon, Buffalo Bills running back Frank Gore rushed for 65 yards against the Denver [...]

Sunday afternoon, Buffalo Bills running back Frank Gore rushed for 65 yards against the Denver Broncos while averaging 4.3 yards per attempt. A fairly impressive feat to many given that he is 36 years old, but the veteran runner also made history on Sunday afternoon. With his 65 yards, he reached 15,289 yards in his career, passing Barry Sanders (15,269) for third place on the all-time rushing yards list.

Gore entered Sunday's game needing 45 yards to tie Sanders and 46 to pass him, but the veteran left little doubt that he would be leapfrogging the Hall of Famer with his performance on Sunday. However, Gore did want to make it very clear following the game that none of this would have been possible without the help of his teammates.

"All my linemen, I want to tell them 'thank you. Thank you for every block, every play call. I really appreciate it.' I'm blessed," Gore said after the 20-3 victory.

With the latest movement, the 36-year-old is now in place to track down another Hall of Famer in Walter Payton. The former Bears great is second all-time with 16,726 yards. Fellow Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith leads the list with 18,355 yards in his longtime career.

Given that Gore needs 1,437 yards to catch Payton and 3,066 to track down Smith, it's unlikely that he will do so before retiring. He has long surpassed the average shelf life of an NFL running back considering that most stop producing at the age of 30 or shortly thereafter. Although Gore has long been known for defying expectations. That's one reason why he is called the Inconvenient Truth.

Originally a third-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2005, Gore spent 10 years of his career. He rushed for 608 yards as a rookie, which is the lowest mark of his 15-year career. Gore also spent time with the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts but signed with the Bills prior to the 2019 campaign in order to pair with rookie Devin Singletary.

While many of his peers have struggled, Gore has been a durable offensive weapon for his four teams, appearing in 217 of 231 possible games. He has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in nine seasons and has scored 79 rushing touchdowns. He is closer to the end of his career than the beginning, but Gore is still proving that he can produce long after he has been counted out.

Photo Credit: Bryan M. Bennett/Getty

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