Frank Gore, the San Francisco 49ers great running back, provided a welcome contrast to the short, quips of answers than an obviously upset Colin Kaepernick left after the Niners lost Super Bowl XLVII to the Baltimore Ravens. Mr. Gore’s answers were long and engaging.
Here’s Frank Gore:
49ERS RB FRANK GORE
(on how proud he is of the team, despite the outcome) “I think we’re the better team. (I’m) just happy the way we kept fighting. Any other team probably would’ve just laid down, probably would’ve just laid down, and we let people know what type of guys we’ve got in the locker room, type of warriors we are. It just didn’t happen for us today.”
(on how the team’s play improved after the power outage) “We knew we had to make plays, we knew we had to make plays.”
(on how much he wanted the ball at the end of the game) “That’s why we’ve got coaches. Every player wanted the ball at that time, but coach made a decision and we tried our best to make it happen.”
(on if the team paid much attention to San Francisco’s Super Bowl history this week) “We heard it, but there wasn’t pressure or (anything). I’d say we’ve got a great group of guys in the locker room, great warriors, and I’m not going to promise anything next year, but we’re going to fight to get back here.”
(on if the Ravens’ defense was making it hard to run on the last drive) “We could’ve ran on them all day. We called plays that we thought that was good, and things didn’t happen.”
(on how frustrating it was for him not to have more touches) “I’m cool with it. I’m a team guy and like I told my coaches, if you all want me to block, I’ll block my ass off. I just want to get a win.”
(on what Coach Jim Harbaugh said to the team after the game) “(He said), ‘I’m proud of us. We’re warriors.’ You know, how we kept fighting. It just didn’t happen for us.”
(on how difficult he is taking the loss) “It’s tough. I just feel like we (were) the better team. They got away with one today.”
(on if he wishes they would have called a different play on the final drive’s second, third, and fourth downs) “You can’t say (anything) about it. Our coach did a great job of calling plays all game. Those were the plays he called and it just didn’t happen.”
(on if it was the right decision to keep throwing to WR Michael Crabtree) “’Crab, he was hot. You know, big receiver. One of the tough guys in this league. Anybody want to give it to him, I’ll take a chance with him too.”
(on if he was on the field for the final three plays of the last drive) “Yes.”
(on what he thinks about the core of San Francisco moving forward) “We’ll keep fighting. We’re pushing at it, keep working hard. Like I said, I’m not going to guarantee next (year) or anything, but we’ll fight back.”
(on what he was thinking when they get the ball inside the 10 yard line) “Game over. Niners were going to win.”
(on if this is even harder for him to swallow since he believes San Francisco was the better team) “Yeah, it’s tough. They had us down 22 points. This let everybody know what type of guys we got in our locker room. It’s not going to break us. We’re going to keep fighting. They just got it done today.”
(on how this feels given the team’s recent success) “It’s tough. Last year, losing (the) NFC Championship round, come back this year, you’re in the Super Bowl. We did it the same way. It was tough. I was proud of our team. Anybody’s team probably would’ve just laid down, but we kept fighting. Just didn’t get it done.”
(on if he thinks about how many more chances like this he’ll get) “It’s tough. You want to dance, you know? We want to get it.”
(on Coach Jim Harbaugh’s message to Frank after the game) “The way I (was) fighting, I had a great game. We just didn’t get it done.”
Stay tuned.