Matt Forte

Childhood and High School

Mathew Garrett Forte was born on December 10, 1985 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He grew up in Slidell, Louisiana where he played football and track. During his high school career, he rushed two thousand four hundred thirty two yards and caught forty eight passes for six hundred eighteen yards. Other highlights include being named the St. Tammany Parish Player of the Year and District 5-5A Offensive MVP, as well as receiving All-Metro selection accolades in his senior year.

College

Forte played football at Tulane University. After sustaining a knee injury his junior year, hereturned his senior year to break school records. He rushed two thousand one hundredtwenty seven yards and scored twenty three touchdowns. He was one of three players nationwide to be named to the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards and the Walter Camp Player of the Year at the same time. He also earned the Overall MVP Award at the Senior Bowl in 2008.

NFL Draft

During the NFL Combine, Forte was noted for his size, especially when it came to breakingarm tackles. He was above average in catching. While he wasaggressive, he also knew when to wait to make just the right play. But while he was quick, he lacked the ability to explode when needed. He had a vertical jump of thirty three inches.

2008 NFL Season

He signed a contract with the Chicago Bears for the 2008 season. As a rookie, he had one ofthe most eventful first games of his career against the indianapolis Colts. He carried twenty three times for one hundred twenty three yards, which set the team record for the most yardage gained in a running back's debut game. He also scored his first touchdown in the NFL. He was awarded Monday Night Football’s Horse Trailer Player of the Game award. By the end of the season, he became the first rookie Bear running back to rush for over a thousand yards since 2001. He was named Diet Pepsi's NFL Rookie of the Week.

2009 NFL Season

Forte's noteworthy highlights happened in the first four games of the season. During these games, he totaled two hundred seventy one yards, including one hundred seventy one yards in game four alone. He also scored his first touchdown of the season in that same game.

2010 NFL Season

In the first game of the season, Forte scored two touchdowns, one of them being the gamewinning one. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week. In Week 5, he had a career long touchdown run of sixty eight yards. That day, he rusHe was nhed one hundred sixty six yards. He was named FedEx Ground Player of the Week. In Week 11, he scored the only touchdown in the game.

2011 NFL Season

He became the only player in NFL history to have over nine hundred yards rushing and fourhundred yards receiving. Despite an injury suffered a few weeks prior, he was the first Bears running back named to the Pro Bowl since 1991.

2012 NFL Season

Instead of signing a franchise tag with the Bears, he signed a four year contract with a thirty two million dollar salary. But he suffered an ankle injury in game two, so he was sidelined until he began practice on September 26. His season ended on a low note with only forty four receptions for three hundred forty yards.

2013 NFL Season

He became the first Bears running back to record fifty or more yards in two consecutive games since 1997. He followed up by becoming third in the leading rusher list with five thousand seven hundred two career yards. He became the first player in the team's history and the eighteenth player in the NFL to record one thousand yards from scrimmage in each of his first sixth seasons. He finished runner-up for the FedEx Ground Player of the Year Award.

2014 NFL Season

With one hundred two receptions, he broke the record for the most a Bears running back made in a single season.

2015 NFL Season

Forte was named as one of the top one hundred players in the NFL for the 2015-2016 season. The Bears did not renew his contract for the following year.

2016 NFL Season

Forte signed a contract with the New York Jets. Towards the end of the season, he was placed on the injured list. This contributed to a career low eight hundred thirteen rushing yards with seven touchdowns and thirty receptions for two hundred sixty three yards and one touchdown.

Personal Life

He was the runner up in the 2008 Rookie Madden Bowl. He enjoys playing video games, and he is a devout Christian. Follow him on Twitter.