Matt Forte: Difference between revisions
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* [[Matt Forté#Awards and honors|College awards and honors]] |
* [[Matt Forté#Awards and honors|College awards and honors]] |
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* 2008 [[Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week]] (Week 12) |
* 2008 [[Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week]] (Week 12) |
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* Nominated for [[Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year]] |
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Revision as of 01:21, 20 February 2009
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| Chicago Bears | |||||||||||||
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| Career information | |||||||||||||
| College: | Tulane | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2008 / Round: 2 / Pick: 44 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2008 | |||||||||||||
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Matthew Garrett Forté (born December 10, 1985 in Template:City-state) 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.
Early years
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, he rushed 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.
Awards and honors
- 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)
Professional career
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 broke Hall of Famer Gale Sayer's former team record of 1,374 in 1965. With Forté's Bears facing the Houston Texans in a must-win game in the final week of the season, Forté rushed for a mere 50 yards on 13 carries as the Bears fell to the Texans, 31-24. The Texans rookie running back, Steve Slaton, outmatched Forté, rushing for 92 yards and a game-sealing touchdown in the final 3:24 to lead all NFL rookies in rushing yards with 1,282. Forte lead all rookie running backs with 1,715 total yards and 63 receptions.[1] He received one vote for the National Football League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing behind Ryan Clady, Chris Johnson, and Matt Ryan.[2]
References
- ^ Kalafa, Jeff (2008-12-12). "Top Rookie Running Backs....Matt Forte, Chris Johnson, Steve Slaton Lead Group". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Henry, George (2008-12-31). "Ryan marvels at Brady, Manning, Favre". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
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