{"id":729049,"date":"2026-02-04T15:35:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T15:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/729049\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T15:35:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T15:35:19","slug":"will-49ers-roger-craig-get-hall-of-fame-call-before-frank-gore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/729049\/","title":{"rendered":"Will 49ers’ Roger Craig get Hall of Fame call before Frank Gore?"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 Joe Montana threw around his certified clout in summing up Roger Craig\u2019s influence on the 49ers\u2019 Team of the \u201980s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe meant everything to that offense,\u201d Montana said.<\/p>\n

Craig and Frank Gore, two of the greatest running backs to wear the 49ers uniform, are finalists to slip on a Pro Football Hall of Fame gold jacket this summer.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s class will be revealed Thursday night at NFL Honors<\/a>, even though it was selected Jan. 13 by the 50-member voting committee.<\/p>\n

Craig\u2019s 32-year wait is increasingly expected to end. A Seniors finalist, he seemingly should emerge after ESPN reported first-ballot snubs of Bill Belichick<\/a> and Robert Kraft<\/a>, the former New England Patriots power duo who were coach and owner finalists in the same voting quadrant.<\/p>\n

For Gore, he also could be overlooked as a first-ballot finalist, even though the NFL\u2019s third all-time leading rusher will inevitably be invited to Canton.<\/p>\n

Craig, 65, also was a finalist in 2010 and 2020, the latter as a Seniors nominee. He has maintained a low profile in recent years, and although he joined former 49ers greats for a San Francisco dinner last week, he steered clear of joining them at last Tuesday\u2019s \u201cRise of the 49ers\u201d premiere in the Mission district.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so overdue,\u201d Montana said last week of Craig\u2019s Hall of Fame case. \u201cThere\u2019s another guy in there that has done what he\u2019s done and there\u2019s no reason he shouldn\u2019t be there. Hopefully they give him his due respect and he gets in. We\u2019re all pulling for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craig was an NFL pioneer as the first player to produce 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving in a season, in 1985. Only 2011 Hall of Fame inductee Marshall Faulk (1999 Rams) and Christian McCaffrey (2019 Panthers) have matched that feat, and McCaffrey nearly did so again this season on the 49ers (1,202 rushing yards, 924 receiving).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a guy that wasn\u2019t just a runner,\u201d Montana added of Craig. \u201cHe\u2019s like a wide receiver catching passes out of the backfield. Today, they\u2019d even split him out and let him run routes out there. That\u2019s the kind of player he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Montana gathered last week with fellow stars from the 49ers\u2019 1980s dynasty for a screening of AMC\u2019s \u201cRise of the 49ers\u201d docuseries, several others sang Craig\u2019s praises, as they had done at a dinner with him the previous night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember the first time I came to the Niners, he took me to \u2018The Hill.\u2019 It hurt me,\u201d Jerry Rice said of a training run on the Peninsula. \u201cI actually stayed away for a couple of days, then I said I have to go back and conquer that hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Super Bowl week in the Bay Area conjured up memories of Eddie DeBartolo\u2019s enshrinement a decade ago, when Levi\u2019s Stadium last hosted a Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen years ago, Eddie DeBartolo was brought in (to the Pro Football Hall of Fame). That made a great difference to the team. They felt vindicated,\u201d former 49ers executive Carmen Policy said. \u201cIf Roger gets in, this team and this organization and the community is going to feel vindicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the last piece of Bill Walsh\u2019s offense that needs vindication and acclaim,\u201d Policy added. \u201cWe\u2019re praying that that happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Seniors finalists are Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood, and they were pooled with Kraft (contributor) and Belichick (coach) in requiring 80% of votes to make the Hall.<\/p>\n

Craig was a 1983 second-round draft pick who won three Super Bowl titles in his eight seasons with the 49ers, before finishing his career with the then-Los Angeles Raiders (1991) and Minnesota Vikings (1992-93). He totaled 8,189 rushing yards and 4,911 receiving yards and 73 touchdowns in a career that included four Pro Bowl nods and 1988 All-Pro and NFL Offensive Player of the Year honors.<\/p>\n

Gore, 42, is the NFL\u2019s third all-time leading rusher with exactly 16,000 yards, and he eclipsed Joe \u201cThe Jet\u201d Perry as the 49ers\u2019 rushing king with 11,073 yards from 2005-13. Gore\u2019s 241 games (148 with the 49ers) are the most ever played by an NFL running back.<\/p>\n

Gore took over the 49ers\u2019 starting role in his second season, and he crested the 1,000-yard mark in every ensuing season with them except an injury-shortened 2010 campaign. After making five Pro Bowls with the 49ers, they cast him loose in free agency, and he played six more seasons \u2014 the Indianapolis Colts (2015-17), his hometown Miami Dolphins (2018), the Buffalo Bills (2019; his son, Frank Gore Jr., plays for them now) and the New York Jets (2020).<\/p>\n

The 49ers from their 1980s dynasty to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame are Montana, Rice, Ronnie Lott, Charles Haley, Steve Young, Fred Dean, owner Eddie DeBartolo and coach Bill Walsh.<\/p>\n

Only nine players drafted by the 49ers are enshrined in Canton: Haley, Lott, Montana, Rice, Jimmy Johnson, Bob St. Clair, Dave Wilcox, Patrick Willis, and Bryant Young.<\/p>\n

Two current 49ers, running back Christian McCaffrey and coach Kyle Shanahan, will be part of the NFL Honors show when it comes to end-of-season awards.<\/p>\n

McCaffrey is a finalist for AP NFL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and the Salute To Service Award from USAA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge honor just being nominated and being at things like the Pro Bowl while you\u2019re around great players,\u201d McCaffrey said Monday at Pro Bowl practice.<\/p>\n

Shanahan is up for his first AP NFL Coach of the Year award, after navigating his injury-laden crew through a 12-5 regular season and into the NFC\u2019s divisional playoffs in his ninth season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2013 Joe Montana threw around his certified clout in summing up Roger Craig\u2019s influence on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,2947,1926,1443,7,36666,1921,6,50312,1161,252,50313,2624,2623,7910,1929,1930,9],"class_list":["post-729049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco-49ers","tag-49ers","tag-49ers-hq","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-football","tag-frank-gore","tag-inside-sports","tag-nfl","tag-peninsula","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-san-francisco-county","tag-sanfrancisco","tag-sanfrancisco49ers","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-south-bay","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116013100215363790","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}