Matthew Garrett Forte was born on December 10,1985 and is an American former professional football player who was a running back for ten seasons in the National Football League.
63 Facts About Matt Forte
2.
Matt Forte played college football for the Tulane Green Wave and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft.
3.
Matt Forte is one of only three players on the "1,000-yard rushing, 100-catch season" club.
4.
Matt Forte spent eight seasons with the Bears before playing for the New York Jets for two seasons.
5.
Matt Forte totaled 2,432 rushing yards and 31 in his career while catching 48 passes for 618 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns.
6.
Matt Forte played NCAA Division I college football at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, a member of Conference USA.
7.
However, Matt Forte got a majority of the carries for the season.
8.
Matt Forte crossed the 100-yard rushing mark once in 2005, against Southern Miss on November 26.
9.
Matt Forte started his junior season in the lead role in the backfield.
10.
Matt Forte scored six total touchdowns in the span, which had victories over Rice and Army but losses to UTEP and Auburn.
11.
Matt Forte's returned from his injury to have a standout season under new head coach Bob Toledo.
12.
Matt Forte set several Tulane school records, including rushing for 2,127 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns.
13.
Matt Forte had five games with at least 200 rushing yards games, two games with at least 300 rushing yards games, and three games with at least four rushing touchdowns during the 2007 season.
14.
Matt Forte finished second in the NCAA in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in 2007, trailing only Kevin Smith of Central Florida.
15.
Matt Forte was the only BCS non-AQ conference athlete to be a semifinalist for both the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards and to make the Walter Camp Player of the Year List, and one of just three players nationally to be named to all three lists.
16.
Matt Forte garnered the most attention at the 2008 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, and walked away with the Overall MVP award.
17.
Matt Forte led with 59 yards rushing on eight carries; four receptions for 38 yards and a tackle on special teams.
18.
Matt Forte was originally drafted to compete with Cedric Benson for the team's starting running back position.
19.
However, Benson was released from the Bears after legal complications, and Matt Forte out-competed Adrian Peterson and second-year running back Garrett Wolfe and started all 16 games.
20.
Matt Forte had two more 100+ yard rushing games on the season, st the Detroit Lions and the other against the St Louis Rams.
21.
Matt Forte led all rookie running backs in total yards and receptions, those 61 receptions breaking Mike Ditka's 1961 franchise rookie record.
22.
Matt Forte received one vote for the National Football League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing behind Ryan Clady, Chris Johnson, and Matt Ryan.
23.
Matt Forte recorded 150 total rushing yards over the first three games of the season before his first big game in Week 4 against the Detroit Lions, during which he rushed 12 times for 121 yards and scored his first touchdown.
24.
Matt Forte averaged 50.6 yards per game over the next 11 games with three rushing touchdowns, before a 101-yard finale in the second divisional game against the Detroit Lions in Week 17.
25.
Matt Forte finished the 2009 season with 258 carries for 929 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to go along with 57 receptions for 471 receiving yards.
26.
Matt Forte was named FedEx Ground Player of the Week for this week.
27.
Matt Forte recorded 68,49, and two rushing yards in his first three games; but had 90,117, and 80 receiving yards, respectively.
28.
Matt Forte was ranked 33rd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2012.
29.
On March 2,2012, Matt Forte was given the franchise tag by the Bears, worth $7.74 million.
30.
However, Matt Forte expressed his frustration and refused to sign the tender, which eventually led to the Bears signing Michael Bush.
31.
Matt Forte then held out for a long-term contract, skipping the organized team activity workouts, before finally agreeing to a four-year, $32 million deal.
32.
In Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers, Matt Forte sustained an ankle injury when he was tackled by Packers cornerback Charles Woodson, originally reported as a dangerous "high ankle sprain" but later down-graded and he only missed one game.
33.
Matt Forte ended the 2012 season with 248 carries for 1,094 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns to go along with a career-low 44 receptions for 340 yards, and dropped out from the top 10 in yards from scrimmage.
34.
In Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Matt Forte had a 55-yard run, and the following week against the Detroit Lions, had a 53-yard run, making him the first Bears running back to record runs of 50+ yards in back-to-back games since Raymont Harris in 1997.
35.
Two weeks later, against the New Orleans Saints, Matt Forte passed Rick Casares for third in the all-time leading rusher list with 5,702 career yards, behind Walter Payton and Neal Anderson.
36.
On November 24,2013, Matt Forte passed Neal Anderson for the second most career rushing yards in Bears franchise history.
37.
On December 27, Matt Forte was named to the 2014 Pro Bowl.
38.
Matt Forte had three touchdowns, becoming the third Bear with two three-touchdown games in a season.
39.
Matt Forte ended the 2013 season with a career-high nine rushing touchdowns along with 1,933 total yards from scrimmage, fifth-most in team history and the second-most behind Payton.
40.
Matt Forte had 1,339 rushing yards during the season, the ninth-most in franchise history.
41.
Matt Forte's 1,339 rushing yards ranked second in the NFL in 2013, while his all-purpose yards from 1,933 yards ranked fourth.
42.
Matt Forte was ranked 91st by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2014.
43.
In 2014, Matt Forte solidified his reputation as one of the best receiving backs in NFL history, with five or more receptions in 14 of 16 games.
44.
Matt Forte ended the season with 102 receptions, breaking Larry Centers' 1995 record for running backs, which was later eclipsed by Carolina Panthers running back, Christian McCaffrey in 2018.
45.
Matt Forte had three 100+ yard rushing games, and nine games with 100+ yards from scrimmage.
46.
Matt Forte passed 1,000 yards rushing for the third consecutive season, and for the fifth time in his career.
47.
Matt Forte was ranked 48th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.
48.
In Week 1, Matt Forte started with a season-best 141 rushing yards on 24 carries and a touchdown against Green Bay, his best since the 2011 season.
49.
Matt Forte's production was sub-par even before a knee injury at the hands of Minnesota's Harrison Smith sidelined him for three games.
50.
In 13 games in the 2015 season, Matt Forte rushed for 898 yards and four touchdowns, and caught 44 passes for 389 yards and three touchdowns, a then-career-low 1,287 yards from scrimmage.
51.
Matt Forte was ranked 90th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.
52.
On February 12,2016, Matt Forte announced that the Bears were not going to attempt to re-sign him in free agency.
53.
On March 9,2016, Matt Forte signed a three-year, $12 million contract with the New York Jets.
54.
On October 23,2016, Matt Forte carried the ball 30 times for 100 yards and a rushing touchdown while making four receptions for 54 receiving yards and caught his first touchdown reception of the season in a win over the Baltimore Ravens.
55.
Matt Forte was placed on injured reserve on December 30,2016, with a knee injury.
56.
Matt Forte finished his first season as a Jet with a career-low 813 rushing yards with seven touchdowns to go along with 30 receptions for 263 yards and one touchdown.
57.
Matt Forte had a career-low 152 yards from scrimmage in his first three games before a toe injury sidelined him for two weeks, allowing Bilal Powell to emerge as a legitimate replacement.
58.
Matt Forte was placed on injured reserve on December 30,2017, after battling a knee injury for most of the season.
59.
On February 28,2018, Matt Forte announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons.
60.
Matt Forte later joined NBC Sports Chicago's Football Aftershow as an analyst alongside Laurence Holmes and former teammates Alex Brown, Lance Briggs, and Olin Kreutz.
61.
Matt Forte was ranked 34th by the Chicago Bears on their list of the Top 100 greatest Bears of all-time.
62.
Matt Forte is a Christian and attends weekly team Bible studies and chapels.
63.
Matt Forte earned a degree in Finance from Tulane University in May 2009.