“Led NFL in Rushing, Paid Less Than the Punter’

Matt Forte had an excellent career, and he was one of the best running backs in the league during his time. He exploded onto the scene in his rookie year in 2008 with the Chicago Bears, with an impressive 1,288 rushing yards alongside eight rushing touchdowns.

Forte would surpass the 1,000-yard mark four more times over the course of his career, including three consecutive seasons from 2012-2014. However, while he was excellent on the field, his life off the field wasn’t the same at times.

The two-time Pro Bowler opened up a bit about his mental health struggles as a player, and other things that impacted him as a professional athlete with Dr. Brook Choulet of Forbes:

While Forte was incredible as a running back, it’s true that he likely could have gotten paid a lot more than he did, and he probably should have. Forte’s insight on some of the struggles that went on for him behind closed doors is important, and it sheds light on some of the issues professional athletes struggle with, although it might seem to the everyday person that they’ve ‘got it made’.

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Forte Struggled With High Expectations

Forte spoke about how he worked on his mental health problems

Forte finished fourth in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting back in 2008, despite finishing seventh in the league in rushing yards, while also contributing 477 receiving yards along the way. Forte’s career was incredible in many ways, and yet it seems as if he’s always been a bit underrated.

And underpaid. Throughout his career, he made just over $44 million in earnings, which is less than the top 10 highest-paid players in the league will make in 2024 alone, which speaks not only to the contract boom around the league, but the lack of appreciation for the running back position as well.

His consistent performance on the field led to him having higher expectations regarding his performance throughout his career, and it didn’t help that he imposed some of those on himself, as he mentioned:

This is a hard thing for any athlete, and as Forte mentioned, the lack of mental health resources during the time he grew up made it even harder to cope. This is a topic that athletes have spoken about more commonly recently, but when Forte entered the league in 2008, there was little discussion about the issue—or resources to help those struggling with it.

Luckily for Forté, he was able to find solace with himself, and his faith at times:

Given his firsthand experience with mental health struggles, his opinions on how to overcome them are valuable. Forte also spoke a bit about how he would advise current players who might be struggling with similar problems, and are unable to deal with them at the moment:

Forte’s story is one of resilience, and it’s a testament to what can happen when people feel encouraged about getting help for their struggles with mental health. While professional athletes sometimes deal with these high expectations more often, his advice is helpful to anybody who might be working through something similar.

Source: Forbes

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.

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