Frank Gore: Ravens Weren’t the Better Team in Super Bowl
By Josh Hill
San Francisco 49ers fans and players alike are dealing with the aftermath of losing one of the biggest games of their lives today. But while the Ravens did win the Super Bow, the 49ers are claiming they got some help from the guys in stripes towards the end of the game. Colin Kaepernick and Michael Crabtree aren’t blaming the refs for the loss on Sunday, but running back Frank Gore is taking a different angle, saying while Baltimore won the game, they weren’t the better team.
“I think we’re the better team,” Gore said. “[I’m] just happy the way we kept fighting. Any other team 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 [on Sunday]”
Gore was not involved at all in the Niners crucial goal-to-go series at the end of the game. Rather than running Gore, Jim Harbaugh decided to send out rookie LaMichael James, but Gore didn’t seem to be holding any grudges over the decision.
“That’s why we’ve got coaches,” Gore said. “Every player wanted the ball at that time, but coach [Jim Harbaugh] made a decision, and we tried our best to make it happen.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.”
You could argue that Harbaugh was throwing his rookie running back (and the likely heir to Gore’s status as starter) into a situation that would force him to mature on the spot. If you think James is the same guy after that series, you’re wrong. But it’s one thing to gamble on the maturity of a rookie and put in the workhorse who helped you get to that situation.
The term is cop out.
Harbaugh made the wrong decision in putting James in over Gore, but it says a lot about who Gore is that he’s standing up for his coach rather than throwing him under the bus.
Plus, Gore’s got some years left and there’s a pretty good chance we’ll see this Niners team making another serious Super Bowl run again next season.