Matt Forte Has One Regret About His Bears Career

Who is the best Chicago Bears offensive player since the turn of the millennium? There are plenty of viable candidates. However, nobody cast a longer shadow than Matt Forte. The 2nd round pick from Tulane was an afterthought when he was first draft. Most expected Cedric Benson to remain the starting running back in 2008 despite his ongoing off-the-field issues. Then, another setback forced the Bears to release him. Forte had to step up as the starter as a rookie, going for over 1200 rushing yards.

What followed was the second-best career a Bears running back has ever had. Forte amassed 12,718 yards from scrimmage with 64 touchdowns in just eight seasons with the team. He cracked 1,000 yards rushing in five of those seasons. Nobody ever disputed that he was the engine that drove the machine. For the most part, Forte likes how his career in Chicago went. However, that comes with one exception. He admitted on Twitter (X) that not breaking the franchise record for receptions was one he regrets, especially since he was only five catches away.

Matt Forte deserves so much more respect than he gets.

In almost any other era, he would've been considered one of the best running backs in the NFL. Sadly, he had the hard luck of coming into the NFL at the same time as guys like Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Frank Gore, and LeSean McCoy were getting more high-profile attention thanks to their successful teams. The one time that Matt Forte got to participate in the playoffs was in 2010. National audiences just didn't see him enough, which is heartbreaking. Not only was he close to the receptions record, there is a chance he could've threatened the all-time Bears receiving yards record as well. He was only 943 away when he left in 2016. Things could've been different if the teams he played on were a little better.