Frank Gore, Ole Miss Rebel?
It seemed like a sure thing to Gore's host at the University of Mississippi, a young quarterback named Eli Manning.
"He committed. He committed," Manning said today good naturedly as he recalled the visit, which presumably took place in the fall of 2000.
"He had a good visit," Manning said. "I took care of him and he was calling me a few weeks later and making sure we were going to run the counter play. And I told him we'd run the counter play and he needed to come here. And all of a sudden it was signing day and we couldn't sign him. Miami had him hidden or something. They had a plan to keep him down there in Miami."
Today it's hard to imagine Gore playing anywhere else than Miami. He grew up in Coconut Grove, Fla., which is just down the road from Coral Gables where the university is located. And he has been Mr. Miami since being drafted by the 49ers in 2005, returning there to work out every offseason and espousing the virtues of South Florida and its athletes.
Manning said he's spoken to Gore before and after games since then, but has never gone into depth about Gore's change of heart. "Ya'll can ask him that tomorrow, what was the story behind that," he said.
******************
Injuries - Gore was on the field as the 49ers went through individual drills. At one point he dropped to the ground to get additional tape on his sore left ankle, which he was favoring. ... Defensive end Ray McDonald (hamstring) was in uniform and went through individual drills. But he walked with the team's strength and conditioning coach to a side field when individual drills ended. ... The 49ers will send out their first injury report of the week later today between 4:30 and 5 p.m.
-- Matt Barrows
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.