Matt Forté
Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame
Football, 2000-17
Slidell HS/Tulane/NFL
Inducted: 2024
Photo Courtesy of Tulane Athletics.
Tulane opened the 2007 football season with back-to-back losses to Mississippi State and Houston. And at halftime of game three, they were down to Southeastern Louisiana, 20-14. With things not going well for first-year head coach Bob Toledo, he adjusted his game plan to a two-word attack – Matt Forté. The senior running back proceeded to run the ball 25 times in the second half, gaining 177 yards and scoring three touchdowns, as the Green Wave posted a 35-27 victory.
He finished the game with 40 carries for school records of 303 yards and five touchdowns.
“Good backs get stronger as the game goes along,” said Bob Toledo, Tulane’s head coach in 2007. “They wind up wearing defenses down and he kind of did that. He started making guys miss in the hole. Then he started running over people. And then he started dragging people. What he did [in the Southeastern game], that’s simply phenomenal.”
That was the start of a special season for the Slidell native. He finished the year with 2,127 rushing yards (seventh in FBS history). He broke his own single-game rushing mark with 342 yards (and four more TDs) in a win over SMU and also added a 278-yard performance (the third-best ever at Tulane) against Memphis.
“I always knew Matt had all the talent,” said Michael Parenton, his college roommate and the godfather to his children, “But that SMU game was when I thought, ‘Holy cow!’ He was the only reason we were even in that game. He was our entire offense and way better than anybody else on the field.”
Forté became just the 12th player in history to run for over 2,000 yards in a single-season – without the benefit of a bowl game. Another way of putting his 2007 accomplishments into perspective – only two other players in Tulane history reached 1,000 rushing yards in a season. Forget 2,000.
“It felt great [to have an outstanding senior season],” Forté said. “It felt like the work that I put in was paying off. Work-ethic is always something that will surpass talent. After all my work, I reached the results I wanted.”
“He’s the total package,” said Toledo during the 2007 season. “I’ve been around some very good backs in my career. All those guys had some great attributes, but they were deficient in certain aspects. Maybe they weren’t as fast or maybe they didn’t catch the ball as well, or maybe they weren’t as physical. Matt is a big, strong, physical, fast back who can catch the ball. He can do it all.”
Forté's outstanding achievements in 2007 netted him numerous accolades, including All-America honors from Sports Illustrated, the Associated Press, and Phil Steele Publications. He was listed among the semifinalists for both the Doak Walker and Maxwell Awards. The Green Wave star was also recognized with the Allstate Sugar Bowl’s James J. Corbett Memorial Award which is presented annually to the most outstanding amateur athlete in the state.
Surprisingly, Forté was not considered a blue-chip recruit for the Green Wave. A two-star fullback, he was rated as the 89th best prospect in Louisiana and the 17th best player on Tulane’s 2004 commitment list by one service.
Those ratings came despite him being the St. Tammany Parish Player of the Year and District 5-5A Offensive MVP as well as an all-metro selection and a second team all-state choice in 2003 at Slidell High School. He totaled 2,432 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns to go with 48 career reception for 618 yards and five more scores in his career.
“Our offense was built around him,” said his high school coach Wayne Grubb. “We ran draw plays, power plays, screens. Sometimes people have an effect on other players to get the best out of them. Matt was one of those guys. The other kids wanted to follow him.”
As a senior at Slidell, he gained 1,375 rushing yards (6.7 yards per carry) while scoring 23 rushing TDs and catching 18 passes for 253 yards and a pair of scores. He gained 1,057 rushing yards with eight touchdowns and caught 30 passes for 365 yards and three scores as a junior.
“The only two scholarship offers I had were from Tulane and McNeese State, where my brother (Bryan) played,” Forté said. “The way it worked out, going to Tulane ended up perfect because I got to follow in the footsteps of my father which not many people get to do, but also Tulane was the perfect place to get a great education.”
Forté’s father Gene played defensive line for Tulane from 1974-78, including serving as a team captain his senior season.
“He was my coach since I was six years old and has always given me advice,” Matt said of his father. “He'd always tell me I've been where you're going, and the advice that I give you, take it and listen to it.”
Tulane also offered easy access to his games for friends and family, including his mom Gilda, of whom he jokes, “She’s even tougher than my 6-3, 300-pound dad!”
The combination of a family connection, proximity, and limited offers proved to be a major score for the Green Wave.
“I thought he was going to be good,” said Greg Davis Jr., Tulane’s running backs coach during Forté’s days. “It took me about four days into fall camp [his first preseason in 2004] for me to realize that he had a chance to be REAL good.”
Real good turned out to be an understatement for the big, strong back. But it wasn’t an easy road at Tulane.
After a strong freshman season, he went into 2005 primed for a major breakout season, but Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The football team was displaced and played 11 games in 11 different stadiums while living in a condemned dormitory on the Louisiana Tech campus and using a conference room as a locker room.
“To see how fickle and fragile life is was a good lesson,” Forté said. “It humbles you so you don’t take things for granted. And it really helped me to grow. I just tried to embrace the moment as far as understanding how life can throw you a curve ball. I was just happy that my parents and family were okay.”
Photo Courtesy of Tulane Athletics.
During his junior season, he started strong and seemed like he would likely become Tulane’s third 1,000-yard rusher in history. And then he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the ninth game of the year.
“That knee injury taught me about ups and downs in life,” Forté remembered. “You can’t put all your emotions into one incident. When something does happen, if you put in the hard work, you can get yourself out of it. That propelled me going forward; my goal for my senior year was to be in the best shape. I was ready if they wanted me to carry the ball every time.”
For his distinguished Tulane career (2004-07), Forté ranks No. 1 all-time in rushing yards per game (99.2), rushing touchdowns (39) and total touchdowns (44) as well as No. 2 in rushing yards (4,265), all-purpose yards (5,261), rushing attempts (833), and 100-yard rushing games (16). He also caught 103 career passes for 985 yards and five touchdowns.
The next stop for Forté was the NFL. However, some questioned how he would fare at the top level. The 2008 NFL Draft class was loaded with big-time running backs. The Arkansas duo of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, Oregon star Jonathan Stewart, Illinois stud Rashard Mendenhall, and Chris Johnson, the freaky fast back from East Carolina, all were selected before Forté, who was snagged by the Chicago Bears in the second round (No. 44 overall).
“He lasted until the second round, which is ridiculous,” Tulane radio play-by-play man Todd Graffagnini told Nola.com. "He's a first-round talent and they didn't draft him because he played at Tulane. Obviously a lot of people made a mistake."
“You definitely hear it and see it, what the pundits are saying,” Forté said about the doubters. “It just adds fuel to the fire. When I came in, I had that extra chip on my shoulder – not for them, but for myself. I knew what I could do.”
Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Bears.
The 6-1, 225-pounder made an instant impact with the Bears as a rookie when he gained 1,238 rushing yards, 477 receiving yards and scored 12 total touchdowns. Starting against the Indianapolis Colts, he broke loose for a 50-yard touchdown run on his fourth career carry and went on to finish with 123 yards rushing.
“It was super exciting,” Forté remembered about his first touchdown in an SI.com story. “I didn’t even realize what I was actually doing – I was just running as fast as I could. It was an unbelievable feeling when I crossed the end zone line and realized that it was a touchdown. The whole crowd was silent because it was an away game. It took the breath right out of them.”
Forté would go on to establish himself as one of the NFL’s premier offensive weapons during his 10-year career. From 2008-17, he accumulated 14,468 yards from scrimmage on 2,910 touches, both totals more than any player in the league. He had eight productive seasons with Chicago and finished his Bears career ranking second in franchise history with 8,602 rushing yards, trailing only Hall of Famer Walter Payton. Forté left in free agency to sign with the New York Jets in 2016. He continued to produce in 2016, but his role was diminished in 2017 as he had just 381 rushing yards and 293 receiving yards.
“When you’re playing, you focus on that season or the next game,” Forté said. “But it’s good now, I can look back and say, ‘In my decade in the NFL, I gained more yards than anybody.’ I can hang my hat, or cleats, on that. That’s what you’re supposed to do as a running back – gain yards from scrimmage. I can take joy in that now.”
“As a fan, he was just a joy to watch,” Chicago Bears chairman George H. McCaskey said, “a superior athlete and frequently the best player on the field – among the best in a long line of great Bears running backs.”
Forté announced his retirement in 2018 after 10 years in the NFL. His career totals of 9,796 rushing yards, 4,672 receiving yards, and 75 total touchdowns are all more than any of the five running backs selected before him.
Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Bears.
“I had played as long as I actually wanted to play, and through a lot of prayer and talking to my wife and family and everyone, I decided to call it a career and move on to bigger and better things,” he told the Sports Spectrum podcast. “A decade is a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, there's a lot of life ahead of me.”
That life includes raising his four children (Jaden, Nahla, Matthew, and Nia) and working closely with his wife Danielle in a range of charitable endeavors. The “What’s Your Forté Foundation” was formed with a mission to invest in the equitable economic advancement of youth and families through partnership and purposeful relationships.
“My foundation was formed from something that happened when I was at Tulane,” Forté said. “My teammate, Brandon Spincer, was murdered after his senior year [in 2006]. That really affected me and stayed with me. When I went to Chicago, I noticed a lot of gun violence, and I wanted to do something. Every Saturday I take time to talk to kids [through the foundation]. We give them some food for their stomachs and some food for their brains.”
He’s also very involved with Pro Athletic Outreach (PAO), a non-profit that aims to unite a community of pro athletes and couples to grow as disciples of Jesus, and Biblica, a ministry which creates and shares life-changing Bible resources.
This September, he will publish a children’s picture book entitled “My Hair Can.” It’s an encouraging reminder for young readers about loving themselves, respecting others’ differences, and celebrating their God-given uniqueness. He has also started a clothing line, Workhorse 22 Apparel; he has appeared on multiple tv shows; he has written songs; he’s a musician; and he has his eyes set on potential entrepreneurial opportunities once he studies the opportunities properly.
Needless to say, “retirement” just referred to football for the Slidell product.
“He’s the most genuine person you’ll ever meet,” said Parenton, “His faith has always been great, his work-ethic is tireless, and he’s authentically been himself his entire life. At every step, he embraced where God put him in his life – to preach his values, to be an example, to be a beacon for how we should all strive to be.”
