SANTA CLARA — Step No. 1 in Frank Gore’s expected path to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is done, as he and fellow 49ers 2005 draft pick Alex Smith are nominees in their first year of eligibility.
Gore covered the third-most rushing yards in NFL history with 16,000 over a 16-year career, the first decade of which was spent becoming the 49ers’ all-time leading rusher.
Enshrined last season in the 49ers’ Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. 49ers Hall of Fame, Gore played for the Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets before retiring in 2021, and he’s now in his third season as a 49ers personnel advisor.
Smith did more than just hand off the ball plenty to Gore, as the No. 1 overall draft pick eventually quarterbacked a wayward 49ers franchise back to playoff contention in 2011 and ’12, then Smith finished out his career with inspiring stops in Kansas City and Washington.
Other former 49ers who are among 128 nominees for next year’s Hall of Fame class are:
Left tackle Joe Staley
Quarterback Jeff Garcia
Running back Ricky Watters
Wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Brandon Lloyd
TIght ends Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker
Defensive lineman Justin Smith
Linebackers NaVorro Bowman, Takeo Spikes and Lee Woodall
Kicker David Akers
Next year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class will be announced on the eve of Super Bowl LX, which will be held at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8.
Step 2 in the selection process is narrowing the field to 50 modern-era nominees by next month, followed by 25 semifinalists later this fall.
Enshinees must obtain 80% support from the selection committee. Modern-era finalists will be whittled down from a list of 15 to 10 to seven before a five-man class is revealed. Already part of the 15-finalist field are four who reached last year’s seven-man round: Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri.
Here are this year’s modern-era finalists (* indicates a 2025 top-15 finalist; underlined players are first-year eligible):
QUARTERBACKS (10): Drew Brees, Randall Cunningham, Jake Delhomme, Rich Gannon, Jeff
Garcia, *-Eli Manning, Donovan McNabb, Steve McNair, Philip Rivers, Alex Smith.
RUNNING BACKS (21): Shaun Alexander, Mike Alstott (FB), Tiki Barber, Larry Centers (FB),
Jamaal Charles, Corey Dillon, Warrick Dunn, Arian Foster, Eddie George, Frank Gore, Priest
Holmes, Steven Jackson, Chris Johnson, Thomas Jones, Jamal Lewis, Marshawn Lynch, LeSean
McCoy, Eric Metcalf (also WR/PR/KR), Lorenzo Neal (FB), *-Fred Taylor, Ricky Watters.
WIDE RECEIVERS (18): Anquan Boldin, Donald Driver, Larry Fitzgerald, *-Torry Holt, Chad
Johnson, Brandon Lloyd, Brandon Marshall, Derrick Mason, Herman Moore, Muhsin Muhammad,
Jordy Nelson, Jimmy Smith, Rod Smith, *-Steve Smith Sr., Hines Ward, *-Reggie Wayne, Wes
Welker, Roddy White.
TIGHT ENDS (6): Vernon Davis, Zach Miller, Greg Olsen, Wesley Walls, Delanie Walker, Jason
Witten.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (22): *-Willie Anderson (T), Matt Birk (C), Lomas Brown (T), Ruben
Brown (G), Ryan Clady (T), David DeCastro (G), *-Jahri Evans (G), Jordan Gross (T), Ryan Kalil
(C), Olin Kreutz (C), Nick Mangold (C), Logan Mankins (G), Tom Nalen (C), Maurkice Pouncey
(C), Jeff Saturday (C), Josh Sitton (G), Joe Staley (T), Brian Waters (G), Richmond Webb (T),
Erik Williams (T), Steve Wisniewski (G), *-Marshal Yanda (G).
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (13): John Abraham (DE also LB), Geno Atkins (DT), Jurrell Casey
(DT), Elvis Dumervil (DE), La’Roi Glover (DT/NT), Robert Mathis (DE), Haloti Ngata (DT),
Jay Ratliff (DE), Simeon Rice (DE), Justin Smith (DE), Ted Washington (NT/DT), Vince Wilfork
(DT/NT), Kevin Williams (DT).
LINEBACKERS (14): NaVorro Bowman, Lance Briggs, Tedy Bruschi, Thomas Davis, James
Farrior, London Fletcher, James Harrison, A.J. Hawk, *-Luke Kuechly, Clay Matthews III, Dat
Nguyen, Takeo Spikes, *-Terrell Suggs, Lee Woodall.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (15): Eric Berry (S), Kam Chancellor (S), Nick Collins (S), DeAngelo Hall
(DB), Rodney Harrison (S), James Hasty (CB), Carnell Lake (DB), Allen Rossum (DB), Asante
Samuel (CB), Patrick Surtain (CB), Earl Thomas (S), Charles Tillman (CB), Troy Vincent (CB),
Adrian Wilson (S), *-Darren Woodson (S).
PUNTERS/KICKERS (7): David Akers (K), Gary Anderson (K), Jason Hanson (K), John Kasay
(K), Sean Landeta (P), Shane Lechler (P), *-Adam Vinatieri (K).
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SPECIAL TEAMS (2): Josh Cribbs (KR/PR also WR), Brian Mitchell (KR/PR also RB).