Durkin: Forte Keeps Hall Of Fame In Mind
By Dan Durkin-
(CBS) Through six games, Matt Forte has touched the ball on 48 percent of the Bears plays. He's the engine of the offense, a do-it-all back who leads the league in receptions (46).
Forte's 157-yard performance against the Falcons put him into an elite category of running backs. In his 97th NFL game, Forte tied Marshall Faulk as the second-fastest running back in NFL history to accumulate 7,000 rushing and 3,000 receiving yards. The only running back to do it faster than Forte and Faulk was Thurman Thomas.
Other than being game-changing running backs, what other trait do Faulk and Thomas share? They're both Hall of Famers.
Forte is a team-first player who has never paid much attention to the numbers, but he admits that making the Hall of Fame is in his focus.
"I do think about it sometimes," Forte said. "I mean, that's a goal, is to obviously play to where you're considered one of the best to play it and be considered for the Hall of Fame. As of right now, if I stopped playing today, I don't think I would be in the Hall of Fame. So that is obviously a motivation for me to keep being successful and trying to play at the top of my game every game."
Forte will be 29 in December and is aiming to be an anomaly among the data that suggests running backs decline once they turn 30.
"It"s just people's perception of running backs," Forte said. "It's kind of, they take all the statistics of running backs and what age they're at and I guess they started going downhill. It's not the same for everybody. Perception, I guess, is reality sometimes. So when people get the perception that running backs start getting old at 20-whatever, 28, 29, 30, they think that through. But like I always say, 'I'm like the fine wine, get better with age.'"
Quarterback Jay Cutler agrees and wouldn't want to play with anyone else in the league.
"I wouldn't trade him for anybody," Cutler said. "Numbers-wise, I don't know where he's at, I don't follow that as closely. I just know that every single day he comes to work, he does the right thing on and off the field, and he's the most consistent guy we've got out there. He's durable, he knows exactly what he has to do and he's in the right place every time. I think people are starting to catch up to how good and how great he is."
Dan Durkin covers the Bears for CBSChicago.com and is a frequent contributor to 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter at @djdurkin.