Does Frank Gore have a son? Meet Frank Gore Jr., the college RB following in father’s footsteps

Frank Gore is known for his long career in the NFL. Believe it or not, he has a son playing college football now, too.

When Gore, was playing at the University of Miami, he had a son named Frank Gore Jr. during his sophomore red shirt year in 2002. Gore, at the time, was recovering from knee surgery, so he sat on the sidelines that season. 

Now, at 19 years old, Gore Jr. is making a name for himself at the college football level. If the elder Gore, a free agent at 38 years old, decides to return to football in the next several years, it is possible that he and Gore Jr. could become the first father-son duo to both be active in the NFL. 

MORE: Frank Gore explains why he turned down NFL offers for 2021

Does Frank Gore have a son?

Frank Gore’s son, Frank Gore Jr., is a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Southern Mississippi. He is a running back on the football team for the smaller Division I school.

During Gore Jr.’s freshman season at Southern Mississippi, both he and the elder Gore (who played for the Jets at the time) scored rushing touchdowns on the same weekend. This is when fans started realizing that Gore had a son — and one who was pretty good at football, too.

Is Derrick Gore related to Frank Gore?

Despite having the same last name and playing the same position in the NFL, Chiefs running back Derrick Gore is not related to Frank Gore. 

Derrick, 27, was signed to the Chargers’ practice squad back in 2019 after being an undrafted free agent out of Louisiana-Monroe (he played his first two seasons in college at Alabama, though). From the time he was originally signed by the Chargers until the Chiefs picked him up in February 2021, Derrick never started in an NFL game. He was continuously released and signed again by the Chargers to be on their practice squad. Washington even picked him up for their practice squad for less than a month (from December 2019 to January 2020). So, this season is the first time Derrick is seeing real NFL action.

Gore has played in seven games this season with the Chiefs, but has only seen action in four games. He’s rushed 146 yards so far with two touchdowns. 

Frank Gore Jr. college stats

Southern Mississippi went 3-9 this season, and they finished sixth out of seven teams in the Conference USA West division. As a freshman, Gore Jr. played in all 12 games. He finished with 801 rushing yards in 179 carries. He also had five rushing touchdowns. Gore Jr. also helped on the receiving end, totaling 155 yards in 20 catches. 

Gore Jr. stood out as the best running back on Southern Mississippi’s team in his sophomore season. He led the team in rushing yards with his 801 yards, and the person who had the second most only had 447 yards. 

Gore Jr. has also had to play quarterback a couple times this season after injuries hurt the quarterback roster. In his first game as quarterback against Louisiana Tech, Gore Jr. threw two touchdown passes and threw a total of 75 yards. Southern Mississippi ended up winning 35-19. For the whole season, Gore Jr. threw 10 out of 16 completions for 189 yards and four touchdowns. Not bad for a running back in his sophomore season.

MORE: Frank Gore Jr. steps in at QB, helps lead Southern Mississippi to second win of season

Although Gore Jr. is in his second year at Southern Mississippi, the football team’s website still calls him a freshman. The reason for this is unknown.

Did Frank Gore retire from the NFL?

Gore has played for five teams in his 16-year NFL career. His longest stunt was with the 49ers, who he played for in 2005 through the end of the 2014 season. Gore had eight seasons with the 49ers with over 1,000 rushing yards. 

After the 49ers dropped Gore, he headed to the Colts, where he played for three seasons. He started all 48 games there. 

Since leaving the Colts after the 2017 season, Gore played on the Dolphins, Bills and Jets each for a season. He only had 722, 599 and 653 rushing yards while on those three teams, respectively. He missed his last game with the Jets at the end of the 2020 season.

Right now, Gore is a free agent since no teams signed him in the off season. There was talk that the 49ers and Kyle Shanahan could possibly pick him up for a 49ers-Gore reunion, but that ended up not happening. Gore has exactly 16,000 rushing yards in his NFL career, which makes him only the third player after Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton to reach this number. He also has the record for most games started as a running back with 241 games. 

When Gore spoke with Good Morning Football in early December, he made it seems like he would only return to football if a team that has a chance of going to the Super Bowl calls.

Gore is turning to boxing now as he gears up to face former NBA player Deron Williams on Saturday, Dec. 18.