page_title: Matt Forte
section_title: 2008 season
hierarchical_section_title: Matt Forte / Professional career / Chicago Bears / 2008 season
caption_attribution_description: English: Chicago Bears quarterback Kyle Orton handing the ball of to running back Matt Forté.
context_page_description: Matthew Garrett Forte is a former American football running back who played ten seasons in the National Football League. He played college football at Tulane and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Forte established himself as a dual-threat running back capable of earning yards as a rusher and receiver. He is one of only three players on the "1,000-yard rushing, 100-catch season" club. Forte spent eight seasons with the Bears before playing for the New York Jets for two seasons.
context_section_description: The Chicago Bears drafted Forte in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft as the 44th overall selection, the sixth of 23 running backs taken that year. He was originally drafted to compete with Cedric Benson for the team's starting running back position. However, Benson was released from the Bears after legal complications, and Forte out-competed Adrian Peterson and second-year running back Garrett Wolfe and started all 16 games. In the 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 debut rushing yards) and scored his first career touchdown on a 50-yard run 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.
  He had two more 100+ yard rushing games on the season, and in Game 12 became the first Bears rookie to rush for over 1,000 yards since Anthony Thomas in 2001. He finished with franchise rookie records of 316 carries  for 1,238 rushing yards (the latter since broken by Jordan Howard in 2016). His 1,715 yards from scrimmage was third in the NFL, and broke Hall of Famer Gale Sayers's team record of 1,374 in 1965. Forte led all rookie running backs in total yards and receptions, those 61 receptions also breaking Mike Ditka's 1961 franchise rookie record. He received one vote for the National Football League Rookie of the Year Award, finishing behind Ryan Clady, Chris Johnson, and Matt Ryan.
caption: Forte takes a handoff from Kyle Orton while playing against the Carolina Panthers in September 2008
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