Indianapolis Colts

At 32, Frank Gore is starting over with Colts and happy to have Andrew Luck on his side

Published Aug. 10, 2015 11:41 a.m. ET

Mike Garafolo

ANDERSON, Ind. -- Frank Gore plopped down on a Gatorade cooler, leaned back against the chain-link fence, drew his legs up close to his chest and pulled the ends of his football pants, which he already wears above the knee, up to the middle of his thighs.

He stared. The interview was to begin.

Now.

Because Frank Gore doesn't have time to waste.

Gore is 32, which is ancient by NFL running back standards. He's been in the NFL for more than a decade now and has made more than $50 million via three contracts. He came tantalizingly close to winning a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers, only to see a drive against the Baltimore Ravens stall at the 5-yard line.

Throw in two incredibly tough losses in the NFC Championship Game on either side of that Super Bowl defeat, and it's not hard to see why Gore has that look in his eyes even now, during the first few days of Indianapolis Colts training camp.

Gore does not have time to waste.

"I feel that hunger. We all want the same thing," Gore told FOX Sports on Sunday, referring to himself and the other veteran free agents without Super Bowl rings the Colts added this offseason. "Before you leave this game, you want to be a champion. This was my first time on the market and I never went through free agency. I was always under contract. So now I have an opportunity to make a decision for myself. In San Fran, I got there but I didn't win it.

"So seeing this team, with a great quarterback, a great coaching staff, a great organization take it step by step, I felt like if I can come over here and work, add myself to the puzzle ..."

Gore paused for seven seconds and looked at his teammates coming off the field, almost like he was afraid to jinx it.

"I've got a shot, you know?" he finally concluded.

The book on Gore has long been that he absolutely loves the game of football. If he didn't, he'd probably be out of the league by now because it requires an incredible amount of discipline to put his body through the rigors of training with younger players in Miami each offseason, trying to prove to himself he can keep up with them.

Gore also proved it to the Colts this offseason. General manager Ryan Grigson said the current Colts regime, which formed in 2012 when the club hired Chuck Pagano as coach, had a firm rule of not signing a running back who'd crossed the age of 30.

"Honestly, we never wanted a back even close to 30," Grigson said. "But the first mention of Frank Gore's name, that all went out the window. I said Frank Gore's name and (owner Jim Irsay) got all excited."

There were a few reasons the Colts waived their over-30 rule for Gore. One was the fact he hasn't missed a game since 2010. Another was how he closed last season with 302 yards on 51 carries over the final two games to finish with 1,106 yards -- his eighth 1,000-yard season in the last nine years. And there was familiarity with him via Pagano's Miami connections and via Jimmy Raye II, a 49ers assistant coach from 2009-10 and the father of Colts vice president of football operations Jimmy Raye III.

Still, despite the Colts' interest, it appeared Gore was headed to Philadelphia to join the Eagles. Reports were he'd agreed to a deal with Philly, even though it was during the three-day waiting period when free agents technically can't speak with teams or finalize a deal. Gore said he was in Las Vegas at the time and didn't have a conversation with the Eagles "until I was about to come here" and sign with the Colts.

FOX Sports reported at the time Gore had several concerns about joining the Eagles. One of them was, at the time, the team was cutting veterans like guard Todd Herremans and linebacker Trent Cole (now members of the Colts), trading running back LeSean McCoy and letting wide receiver Jeremy Maclin leave via free agency.

The Eagles would eventually make their moves, but Gore and fellow Miami Hurricane Andre Johnson saw an opportunity to join a team on the rise that's loaded with offensive weapons and with Andrew Luck at quarterback. So that's what both ultimately decided to do.

"The quarterback, man. He's the real deal," Gore said. "I can just tell by the huddle. He runs the show. When you're around him, yeah, he's different. Like in the offseason, he doesn't need a coach. He respects the coaches, but he's like a coach on the field."

Grigson said Gore has also been playing the role of a coach. Though Gore is new to the club, he's gotten after linemen and other players who haven't been practicing hard enough. Asked to share one of those stories, Grigson replied with a laugh, "I don't know that I can say it and you can put it in print. But he has a way with words and getting his point across."

The gist of the message, Grigson concedes, was "do your job."

Gore is doing his, and Grigson believes his faith in the veteran to stay football-ready at his age has been validated. Gore has been impressive in training camp, and Grigson said he's "like smoke through a key hole. Any crack, any slice of daylight and he can get skinny and break out for a run."

Gore's first step was on display at the end of this eight-minute, 33-second interview. He was seemingly in mid-sentence, talking about how tough it was to be close to a championship and not win it because "you have to think about how tough it is to get there." At that point, he grabbed his helmet, stood up, extended his hand for a shake and was moving on. As quickly as this chat began, it was over.

Because Frank Gore doesn't have time to waste.