Matt Forte: Looking For Respect Not Money

Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte is currently holding out from OTAs because he is looking for a new contract. Forte is seeking a long term deal on par with his standing amongst other players in the league. The NFL Network recently had him ranked #33 on the list of “Top 100 Players of 2012.” That ranking system is voted on by current NFL players who are evaluating their peers. After they reveal 10 players at a time, the NFL Network has a reaction show and during that show they asked Matt Forte if he felt disrespected by  the Chicago Bears.

“All you can ask for is respect, and you go out there and you do your best to earn it. Respect isn’t given to anybody,” Forte said Wednesday. “You’ve got to earn it out there. So the way I go about playing the game, preparing for it and the way I play, I feel I have earned the respect.

“As far as being disrespected, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the business side of the league. It’s unfortunate that when the organization does treat it as a business (but) when a player does, he gets frowned upon. You have to do what’s best for you and your family.

“All my teammates know I’m gonna be there for them, give my best out there and my heart out there on the field.”

The Chicago Bears have also taken a hard stance with long time player, face of the franchise Brian Urlacher who said he understood the business side of football and why things were happening the way they were. Forte is in a much different position then Urlacher, who is 35 and on the last few years of his career. Forte is only 26 years old and should have at least another 4-5 productive years.

In his first 4 years in the league he gained over 1,000 yards or more from scrimmage, a first in NFL history. He is also one of 4 Chicago Bears players (Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, and Neal Anderson) to accomplish this in 4 different seasons with the franchise. Forte also led the Bears in rushing last year despite missing 4 games with a sprained MCL.

Forte is still preparing for this upcoming season. If he can’t work out a long term deal with the franchise he’ll have to play under the franchise tag which would pay him $7.7 million for this season.

“I had a lot of down time going into the offseason. I pretty much was healed up before the Pro Bowl,” Forte said. “So it’s been a while since then. I’ve just been training with my regular trainers and getting prepared for the season coming up.”

Forte was ranked no. 7 in running backs by the NFL Network’s “Top 100” program. This could be due to his injury last season.

“I love to compete, and I train hard and work hard so I can be considered amongst the top running backs,” he said. “For six backs to be ahead, I don’t know about that. I feel like maybe if I would have finished through the season, I may have been top 10 on the 100 players list. Unfortunately, that injury happened.”

The Chicago Bears though are apparently reaching out to Forte looking to start negotiations. The Bears have until July 16th to sign Forte to a long term deal before his franchise tag kicks in. But Forte scoffed at the notion that he was looking to become the highest paid running back in the league.

“Definitely no,” Forte said. “I just want to be given a contract where I rank among some of the top running backs; not the top paid or highest paid or anything like that. I just want to be recognized as one of the best.”

In other words, Forte just wants a contract that makes him feel appreciated and respected by the organization that he has done so much for and puts his body and health on the line for.

“This is Matt’s life,” Bears linebacker Lance Briggs said Tuesday.

“He’s come out here, and he’s put his life and his mind and body on the field for all of us. He’s given a lot of thrills to the city of Chicago, and everyone has seen what he’s capable of doing and what he means to our team.”

Forte’s teammates agree with him.

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