In January 2012, in the days leading up to the NFC championship game, a reporter asked Frank Gore, then in the middle of his seventh season (and third Pro Bowl bid) whether he remembered the running backs who were taken before him in the 2005 NFL draft.
Gore said he could, then proceeded to robotically list the names one by one.
“First was Ronnie Brown, second was Cedric Benson, Cadillac Williams, then J.J. Arrington, then the boy who went to Carolina from Louisville, [Eric] Shelton, then me.”
Ed Szczepanski/USA Today network
Gore, who officially retired at age 39 on Thursday, was making a larger point about the metaphorical chip on his shoulder that kept his NFL longevity intact, knowing the list was already littered with players who had washed out of the NFL or would soon be on their way.