LeSean McCoy stays woke to his place in the pantheon of accomplished NFL running backs and he points to potential future Hall of Famer Frank Gore as a measuring stick for his place in history.
McCoy is aware he's closing in on 10,000 career rushing yards. The Bills running back currently sits at 9,805 and said himself on Twitter he's on the "10K case.".
He's aware that while standing on the doorstep of 30, the odds won't be on his side to reach the higher rushing total he's aiming for.
"Twelve is special because there's only three backs that have 12,000 that aren't in the Hall of Fame," McCoy told the Buffalo News last week.
One of those backs is Gore, who at 13,697 yards and counting is only strengthening his gold jacket case with each carry. McCoy is keenly aware that Gore occupies a spot on the all-time list he hopes to one day reach.
"He just moved into fifth place in the all-time list, and that's major," McCoy said of Gore. "The NFL has been here for (a) long, long time. For him to be fifth is major, so I'm excited about that."
Gore may be the oldest back in the league at 34 years old but his legs are showing they're not done yet. He's coming off a 1,000-yard season (his third since turning 30) and with 632 yards in 12 games he's got a chance to hit that mark again this year, though he's averaging a career low in yards per carry (3.6).
McCoy says Gore imparted some wisdom that comes with 13 years of experience on him last year during a chat at the Super Bowl.
"That's a guy like Frank who's number five all-time and he's still trying to improve his game, he's still working hard, he's still the first one there, last one to leave. He's one of them guys," McCoy said.
Gore says that alpha mentality is what will set McCoy on a path to football immortality.
"As long as he has that, he always wants to outdo his competition -- he doesn't care if it's his class or younger guys," Gore said of McCoy, per the Buffalo News. "Even though they say he's getting older, he's still one of the best out there. He's still looking young to me."
Since McCoy has already taken Gore's advice, he plans to take something else when it's all said and done Sunday.
"A lot of guys, I don't really trade my jerseys a lot, but he's a guy, we've already talked, I'm going to give him my jersey; we're going to switch. He's one of the guys I really respect," McCoy said.
