Football historian Frank Gore firmly believes that his third stop on his AFC East Tour will be much different for one giant reason: Tom Brady is no longer here.
"I think it's wide open ... Brady's gone," the newest Jets running back said Thursday about winning the division. "It's wide open. You got young quarterbacks. Sam Darnold. Josh (Allen). ... But I'm just going to be ready when we start and hope it goes our way."
The Evil Empire's two-decade long stranglehold on the division could finally be over without Brady around to ruin everyone else's day. The AFC East appears up for grabs to a certain extent. The Bills, who earned a wild-card berth last season with Gore on the roster, appear to be in line to snap the Patriots' 11-year run as division champs.
"I will say Buffalo has a bunch of great young talent," said Gore, who played for the Dolphins in 2018 before moving on to the Bills for a one-year stay. "The head coach, I respect him a lot. The general manager, I respect him a lot. They're doing great things over there. But I'm on the other side now. Whenever we got to play them and that first game comes, I'm going to have my teammates ready to do whatever it takes to get a win. You always want to get that first win. And also you want to always get the win in your division."
The 37-year-old Gore, who will face his former team in the season opener, admitted that he didn't seriously mull retirement even though he finished with career lows in rushing yards (599) and yards per carry (3.6) with Buffalo. Gore was solid in his first seven games (4.4. yards per carry on 95 attempts) before dropping to 2.4 yards per carry (65 attempts) from Weeks 9-16.
"I didn't (retire) because when I was playing the first six, seven games, I was ballin'," Gore said. "I was ballin'. ... Once Buffalo started playing the younger guy (Devin Singletary), I felt like I still could do it. I just had to see what team would give me an opportunity. Also, I asked my (oldest) son what he thinks I should do. He's going to be in college this year. He was like, 'Dad, I think you could go one more.' I said, 'All right, I'm going to go.' "
Gore, the NFL's third-leading all-time rusher (15,347 yards), has had at least 125 carries in each of his 15 seasons. Although there's no denying that he will be a good influence given his tremendous work ethic and willingness to share wisdom to young players, how much gas does he actually have left in the tank?
Gore said he'd be "cool" taking a backseat to Le'Veon Bell, who wasn't deployed properly in the most forgettable season of his career.
"I'm happy to even be playing this game at my age," said Gore, who has not spoken to Bell since signing with the Jets. "I'm happy that this organization gave me an opportunity. I'm going to come in and work and show the young guys that I still can play. Whenever I get my number called, I'm going to go out there and try to make a play for our team to be successful."
"I've known Le'Veon since he was a rookie," Gore later added. "He always respected me. I respected him. It'll be fun. I've been around a bunch of talented running backs my whole career. ... So, I'm going to do whatever it takes to help him, help the other guys and also help the team be successful on Sundays."
