Gregg Doyel

gregg.doyel@indystar.com

LONDON — We’re watching a genius at work. We’re watching him work for a bunch of simpletons, but that just makes more obvious the brilliance of Frank Gore.

Understand, he’s not what he was. If Frank Gore makes it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — and at the moment, the only Indianapolis Colt with a better case for Canton is kicker Adam Vinatieri — he’ll go into the Hall for what he did with the San Francisco 49ers. The Gore we’ve seen here in Indianapolis is a shell of the Gore who ran for 11,073 yards and 64 touchdowns and averaged 4.5 yards per carry in 10 seasons in San Francisco.

And San Francisco never saw the best Gore, either.

As a freshman at Miami in 2001, Gore had folks in South Florida believing he would be the best running back in UM history, and let me tell you something: They were right. At Coral Gables (Fla.) High School, he was the closest the state of Florida had seen to Emmitt Smith 15 years earlier in Pensacola — another short, squatty back with incredible vision and balance and power. Difference was, Gore was faster than Emmitt. Much faster. As a true freshman at Miami he was the second-team back behind Clinton Portis, getting just 62 carries, and even so Gore ran for 562 yards. He averaged 9.1 yards per carry.

Read that again. As a true freshman, playing against players three and four years older, Frank Gore averaged 9.1 yards per carry.

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But he blew out the ACL in one knee, then the ACL in the other knee, and by the time he reached the NFL, his time in the 40-yard dash had slowed considerably. Once a back who could run 40 yards in less than 4.4 seconds, he was timed between 4.55 and 4.62 seconds before the 2005 NFL draft.

So, anyway. The Frank Gore who is playing his 12th season in the NFL, the Frank Gore who is 33 years old, is a shell of the explosive marvel he was at age 18.

And still, he’s the 10th-leading rusher in NFL history.

Gore leapt from 13th to 10th on Sunday in London, sticking out from that garbage dump of a 30-27 loss to winless Jacksonville like a diamond. With 68 yards on 16 carries, Gore pushed his career total to 12,293 yards — moving ahead of Marcus Allen (12,243 yards, now 13th all time) and ex-Colts Edgerrin James (12,246 yards, now 12th) and Marshall Faulk (12,279 yards, now 11th).

Later this week against the Chicago Bears, Gore will need just 20 yards to pass former NFL career rushing leader Jim Brown (12,312 yards) and take over ninth place. By season’s end, Gore figures to move past Tony Dorsett (12,739 yards) into eighth place.

After the loss to the Jaguars on Sunday at Wembley Stadium, I was asking Gore about the names he has passed, the names he is about to pass. He was having none of it.

“I’ll worry about that when I’m done,” Gore said in that smiling way he has, speaking as he always does — whatever his mood — through pleasantly clenched teeth.

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But, someone was saying. Marcus Allen and Edgerrin James and Marshall Faulk. You just passed them. Jim Brown is next. Tony Dorsett. These names, Frank.

“I’m just so frustrated,” Gore said.

He’s just so talented, Frank Gore — and again, we’re not seeing the best of him, or even the second-best of him. We’re seeing what’s left of him after two ACL surgeries and 11 full NFL seasons and 2,766 NFL carries (16th all time).

We’re seeing a guy who popped into the clear on Sunday against the Jaguars and was run down by 247-pound linebacker Myles Jack, who mercifully got to Gore before 304-pound defensive end Tyson Alualu caught him after 17 yards. And this is not an insult to Gore; it’s a compliment. It’s the ultimate compliment, because he’s running at a high level despite being one of the smallest (5-9, 215 pounds) and slowest people on the field.

We’re not seeing the genius of athletic explosion, because Gore doesn’t have that anymore. We’re seeing the genius of vision, patience, balance and toughness. On that 17-yard carry, Gore started inside, bounced outside and then was gone, or as gone as he was going to get. Jack caught him. Alualu was closing.

Two carries later, Gore gained 4 yards that should be on his Canton highlight reel. He took the handoff and cut left, then cut left again, then cut right. Behind this offensive line, that’s what it took — three cuts — to gain 4 yards.

Gore didn’t gain 100 yards Sunday, just as he didn’t gain 100 yards the previous week against San Diego, because this football savant is playing for a bunch of simpletons. Gore had 70 yards in the first half against the Chargers and finished with 82. He had 56 yards (on just 10 carries) in the first half against the Jaguars and finished with 68.

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The Colts went 8-8 last season and are 1-3 this season, and Gore didn’t come here for this. He had his choice of teams as a free agent in 2015 and he chose the Colts — he even convinced his buddy Andre Johnson to join him — because he thought this franchise was ready to win a Super Bowl.

Last season Gore played with three quarterbacks who are out of the league (Matt Hasselbeck, Josh Freeman, Ryan Lindley) and a fourth who should be (Charlie Whitehurst). He played behind an offensive line that nearly got two quarterbacks (Hasselbeck and Andrew Luck) killed.

He ran for 967 yards anyway.

With 253 yards in four games, Gore is on pace to get 1,000 this season even if he’s not fast enough, not explosive enough, to overcome teammates who aren’t consistent enough and coaches who aren’t smart enough.

In 33-year-old Frank Gore, we’re watching a man overachieve while being surrounded by underachievers. We’re watching the last years, possibly the final year, of an all-time great.

We’re watching someone who deserves better.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/gregg.doyel.

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