Matt Forte

Matthew Garrett Forté (born December 10, 1985 in Lake Charles, Louisiana) is an American football running back for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bears in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tulane.

Forté attended Slidell High School in Slidell, Louisiana and was an honor student and a letterman in football and track. In football, he was a two-time All-District and All-Parish selection, and as a senior, he was also named the team's Most Valuable Player, won All-Metro honors, was named the District 5-5A Offensive M.V.P., was named the Saint Tammany Parish Player of the Year, and garnered second team All-State honors. Matthew Garrett Forté graduated from Slidell High School in 2004.

College Career

Forté played NCAA Division I college football at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, a member of Conference USA. Forté lettered for four years and played for 3 while pursuing a degree in finance. His junior year was cut short when he suffered an injury in the game against Marshall University. His standout season was his senior year, coming off a knee injury, Forte set several Tulane school records, including rushing for 2,127 yards and 23 touchdowns. He had five 200+ yard rushing games and two 300+ yard games during the 2007 season. Forté was the only non-BCS 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 3 players nationally to be named to all three lists.


Senior Bowl

Forté garnered the most buzz at the 2008 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, and walked away with the Overall MVP award. He led with 59 yards rushing on 8 carries; 4 receptions for 38 yards and a tackle on special teams.


NFL

The Chicago Bears drafted Forté in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft as the forty-fourth overall selection. He was originally drafted to compete with Cedric Benson and Adrian Peterson for the team's starting running back position. However, Benson was released from the Bears after struggling with legal issues, leaving Forté to compete with Peterson and second-year running back Garrett Wolfe. Forté made his regular season debut on September 7, 2008, against the Indianapolis Colts. He carried the ball 23 times for 123 yards (setting a franchise record for most yards gained in a running back debut) and one touchdown en route to a 29-13 victory over the Colts. His efforts earned him Sunday Night Football's "Horse Trailer Player of the Game" award.

Forté became the first Chicago Bears running back to rush for over 1,000 yards in their rookie season since Anthony Thomas rushed for 1,183 yards in 2001. He would finish with 1,238 yards rushing on the year as well as finishing with 1,715 yards from scrimmage (Rushing and Receiving). This was good enough for third in the entire league and it broke Hall of Famer Gale Sayer's former team record of 1,374 in 1965. Forte led all rookie running backs in total yards and receptions. He received one vote for the National Football League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing behind Ryan Clady, Chris Johnson, and Matt Ryan.

Forte is ranked #2 on NFL.com's list of the Top 100 Fantasy Players, just trailing Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

• Conference USA All-Freshman (2004)
• 2x All-Conference USA (2005, 2007)
• Third-team AP All-American (2007)
• Doak Walker Award semifinalist (2007)
• Maxwell Award semifinalist (2007)
• Senior Bowl MVP (2008)

Forté earned a degree in Finance from Tulane University in May 2009.  In his spare time, Forté enjoys playing video games, especially Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Halo 3 for the Xbox 360.  Forté was also the runner up in the 2008 Rookie Madden Bowl, finishing second to Devin Thomas.  Forte' followed his father who played for the Green Wave at Tulane University in the 1970s.