Our Athletes Voice series gives athletes a forum to talk about how technology has impacted their careers and their lives away from sports. This week, retired NFL star Matt Forte talks about athlete tracking, social media and the advice he has for this year’s NFL rookie class.
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Matt Forte ranks as one of the best running backs in Bears history. During his eight-year stint in Chicago he notched up two Pro Bowl selections, in 2011 and 2013, and 8,602 rushing yards—second only to Walter Payton. After two more years with the Jets, he retired with 9,796 rushing yards, just short of the 10,000 club, in 2018. Earlier this year, Forte seemed to be teasing a potential return, but that turned out to be an elaborate April Fools’ Day prank.
Forte played college ball at Tulane, graduating with a degree in finance after the end of his NFL rookie season in May 2009. Since retiring, he joined the NBC Sports Chicago team as an NFL analyst and has traveled on missionary trips with Biblica, formerly the International Bible Society. Biblica’s mission is to spread the Christian faith across the world through translating the Bible into different languages and formats.
Two weeks ago, Forte joined SportTechie and the NFLPA at the Accelerating Change event in Chicago for a live Athletes Voice interview. If you couldn’t make that event, but would like to find out more about our upcoming schedule, please check out our calendar here.
On his career highlight …
“[On] opening day of 2012, my fourth season, we’re playing the Indianapolis Colts and my mom and dad were up for the game and somehow they got tickets on the very first row in the endzone. I was like, ‘I got to score a touchdown today, and hopefully it’s in the right endzone.’ I ended up scoring two of them, one in each end zone. When I scored where my parents were, I got to walk up and hand them a ball and I got a picture handing my dad the ball. My dad played football as well, at Tulane, but didn’t get to make it to the pros, so it was kind of like him living vicariously through me. That was a major highlight of my career.”
“If I have any regrets, I’d say it was not playing on a team that won a Super Bowl. It’s good not to have regrets, though, so I’m not going to just sit here and think about regrets.”
On his April Fools’ comeback …
“I didn’t start [the joke] but I went along with it. It was either a fan or one of the guys who was with the Bears. They said something about me being a couple hundred yards short of 10,000 and that I was being re-signed to the Bears. All these fans were kind of excited, so I just went with it, like, ‘Yeah, it’ll kind of be like Bernie Mac’s movie Mr. 3000,’ how he retired and came back to get the record. It was fun for about three hours. I almost called Dave [Reavy, his long-time physical therapist], and said, ‘come get these knees right, I might get 300 extra yards, make the 10,000 club.’ ”
On the power of social media …
“The value of athletes has grown astronomically. You see guys now, they have YouTube channels and follow themselves around with GoPro cameras. I’m still a little old school so I’m not into that stuff but I think it helps, especially in football because you have a helmet on. A lot of times I catch people staring at me, and they kind of think they know you but don’t recognize you because you’re always wearing a helmet. You can point NBA stars out, obviously because they’re 8 feet tall, but also because they don’t have helmets on.”
“Social media is able to grow the sport because there’s so much more fan engagement. And you kind of have the leeway, as an athlete, to do your own thing too. You can show fans your personality. As an athlete, you want to let people get to know you outside of the sport, outside of your profession, and know you on a personal level.”
“Beforehand, people would be a fan of you at a game at Soldier Field and then they’d probably never see you again unless they went to an autograph signing. Now you can engage with people via Twitter, Instagram, Instagram Live, Facebook and all that stuff. You’re basically able to let your fans in a little bit on your life and see you the personality and not just you the football player.”
“A buddy of mine was in the Ukraine and sent me a picture of a guy at a neighborhood cookout with a Bears jersey on. In the Ukraine? That’s nuts. I went to India in April and a couple of guys that were out there had Bears hats. The game is growing and it’s growing at a quick pace and I think that’s due to social media and technology, and how the fan is able to engage in different ways.”
“You should always do more than what’s expected of you … If you’re doing the same workout as everybody else, you’re going to be the same as everybody else. You’ve got to go above and beyond that … And don’t pigeonhole yourself in just being an athlete.”
On fantasy …
“Fantasy football is helping too. A lot of people aren’t just fans of a specific team, they’re becoming fans of many different players basically because of the benefits they can add to their fantasy team. It gives the fan a different aspect than just points and tackles. It breaks a few different barriers where everybody is not so locked into their own team but they love other players and respect what other players do. I’ve had many Packers fans tell me they respect my game and the person I am off the field and different things like that … It’s cool to see how it can grow the game and how it has grown the game, that everybody is not so boxed in to just their own team.”
On athlete tracking …
“If you’ve had a good season and you have a certain routine, a lot of guys are like, ‘I’m going to keep that same routine, that’s all I’m going to do.’ But then somebody comes to the facility and they’re showing you some tech stuff and it’s about your sleep. Turns out they’re only sleeping six hours a night or something, and that’s harming them in regards to recovery. It just takes a couple of guys to try it, and then everybody else will follow. I like to say the locker room is a bunch of followers, because one or two or three guys will try it, especially if one of the guys is an impact player, then everybody else wants to do it. If really beneficial, you’ll see a lot of guys hop on the bandwagon.”
“The educational part of it is becoming more important because we understand how much recovery helps you in performance. Beforehand it was just ice and you had to get enough sleep at night. There’s so much data that is now out there and can be gathered for recovery that helps, and I think guys are a lot more interested in it. You’ve got to learn and educate yourself about how to take care of your body. You come into the NFL and you’re playing with the big boys now, and hits are a lot harder and soreness is a lot longer. And then you get old and nothing really goes back to where it’s supposed to be.”
On being more than a player …
“I did speak to David Montgomery, who is an incoming rookie with the Bears who they’re expecting a lot out of. And I told him that you should always do more than what’s expected of you when you come into the league. Obviously they have high expectations of him and he probably has high expectations of himself, but I mean in the details of everyday training. If you’re doing the same workout as everybody else, you’re going to be the same as everybody else. You’ve got to go above and beyond that.”
“But also, I told him not just to pigeonhole himself in just being an athlete. Whatever you’re interested in outside of that, start working on that now. It seems like a lot of young guys don’t. They’re not very receptive to it because they’re like, ‘I’m just trying to make the team,’ and they’re trying to just get their first season under their belt and then worry about that later. Your first year is like a whirlwind. You come straight out of college, you’re training for the combine, if you go to an All-Star game you play in one of those, then you do the combine, then there’s a draft straight into the season. So you don’t really have a lot of time to do those things. You’re just trying to show them that they invested in the right person.”
“But a lot of guys retire and they’re like, ‘I don’t know what I’m passionate about now.’” And that becomes a problem because then you’re sitting on your hands and you’re waiting just trying to find out what to do next. Football is a short time. Our time on life here is short compared to eternity. You’re going to have to do something after football, so I always tell them to try and find what your passion is outside of that and start developing that more.”
On financial advice …
“God has blessed me to get a couple of NFL contracts so I know how to take care of my money, which this finance degree has helped me with. But also, I want to use that to help other people. I’m looking to give a lot more than I have received. Investment-wise, I lean on a financial advisor. I always make them explain exactly what they’re doing though, because I want to educate myself on these things. Just because I majored in finance doesn’t mean I understand everything they’re talking about in the investment world, but it’s interesting to me. Also, I want to be able to help a lot of younger guys who make financial mistakes. A lot of guys do that and sometimes trust the wrong people, who do take advantage of them. I want to educate myself and be able to speak knowledgeably to them about that.”
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Read more in our ongoing Athletes Voice series…
- Olympic Skeleton Racer Kyle Tress: I Discovered My Sport by Accident
- Cross Country Mountain Biker Payson McElveen: ‘The Climb Is Ridiculous’
- Nationals Pitcher Sean Doolittle: The Closer Role Is All About Managing Energy
- NFL Cornerback Prince Amukamara: I’m an Avid Shark Tank Watcher
- NFL Safety Tony Parrish: Just Keep Moving. Ultimately You Get There
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