The Bear's Necessity

“Show me the money”

Rod Tidwell (Jerry Maguire, 1996)

For Chicago Bears running back, Matt Forte those four words are dancing around his head in the same manner he himself dances and glides past defenders. Forte is an elite running back, a two headed catching and rushing monster having his best ever season in the NFL. Nearly half of his team’s offensive production, 47% is down to his dancing feet, soft hands, blistering speed and exceptional vision that allows him to see gaps in the sea of 300 plus pound men all trying to be roadblocks.

This year he leads the NFL in total yards and he is also only the second player in the history of the NFL to have 700 rushing and 400 receiving yards for the first four years of a career. Those numbers make Forte by far the most valuable player on the Bears and yet for all his gaudy stats the Bears have not shown Forte their appreciation by showering him with a gaudy pay check.

Matt Forte is entering the last year of his contract signed when the Bears drafted him in the second round of the 2008 draft out of Tulane. Forte has made no secret of his desire for a big pay day. He does not crack the top 10 of highest paid running backs this season and has seen fellow members of the running back brotherhood Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, and Jamal Charles all rewarded with lucrative new contracts.

The Bears have reached out to their star running back with General Manager, Jerry Angelo, in a recent radio interviewing stating the club offered a contract in the region of 30-40 million dollars an offer Forte turned down. In response an increasingly frustrated Forte muttered to the media that any other team would have paid him by now .The gap in money between the two sides in unknown but it seems that the Bears are in no rush to financially appease their disgruntled superstar.
The reason for their reluctant is simple, history. Running backs are viewed as interchangeable parts for many NFL teams. Cogs in a machine who when they are broken down can be easily replaced by another. Current Washington Redskins, Coach, Mike Shannhan once remarked when he was coaching the Broncos that could turn any running back into a 1,000 yard rusher.

Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson, Rueben Droughns and Tatum Bell a list of one hit wonders only rivaled by that of past X factor winners. No name journeymen plucked from obscurity that proved Shannahan’s theory correct. Turned into stars and disappeared all in the blink of an eye. Yet the self appointed running back guru was also blessed with a once a generation talent in Terrell Davis.

Davis was picked in the sixth round of the NFL draft by Shannahan’s Broncos in 1995. Pencilled in as the sixth running back on the teams Depth chart heading into that season Davis quickly rose up the ranks and was named the Bronco’s opening day starter. In four seasons Davis would go on to become the Denver’s all time leading rusher gaining 7,607 rushing yards. In 1996 he set a team record with 13 rushing touchdowns and helped the Bronco’s win its first ever Super Bowl crown winning MVP honors in the Final. The following year Davis’s encore was even better rushing for the third highest single season yardage ever with 2,008 the fourth man ever to run for over 2,000 yards, a league MVP awarded and retainating of the Super Bowl.

Terrell Davis was at the peak of his powers a one man offensive machine who put together an unparrlled first four season of his career indeed no running back in the NFL hall of fame can match Davis’s 56 rushing touchdowns in their first four season. With the sky the limit the soaring Davis crashed down to earth in a hurry the next season. Terrell, tore his ACL and MCL an injury that took away his legs and effectively ended his career Davis retired in 2002 at the age of 29 only four injury plagued years removed from being the best player in the league.

It can be argued that those 2,008 yards that Davis ran for shaved at least two or three years off his career. Running back years are a lot like dog years. Taking the ball and bobbing and weaving between men who can run like Olympic sprinters and hit like a freight train adds wear and tear to the body. A 24 year old running back that has been in the league four years actually has the knees of a 31 year old and as the aforementioned Davis can attest to once your legs go so does the ability to be productive on the field.

Matt Forte is now 26 years old and is entering his fourth season in the NFL .The Bears rely on Forte the same way the Broncos did Davis. As already stated Forte accounts for a remarkably 47% of his team’s Offensive a staggering number. A Figure that is well known to all defensive coordinators in the league who make it their number one mission to stop Forte. If you stop Forte you stop the Bears. Indeed the Bears do not have to look far for reason to have pause about shelling out money on Forte. The current poster child for the dangers of paying running backs is Chris Johnson.

Chris Johnson is the same age as Matt Forte and was drafted in the same year in 2008, going in the first round to the Tennessee Titans. Johnson is an elusive runner blessed with sprinter speed a nightmare for opposition when he is in open field. In his first season in the league he finished as runner up in the rookie of the year vote in his second season he had a Terrell Davis like year rushing for over 2,000 yards becoming the sixth man to do so as well as breaking Marshall Faulks all time record for most yards from scrimmage in a single season.

The best running back in the league since his debut Johnson, decided to try and cash in on his success demanding a new contract from the Titans. He refused to show up to the teams off season training camp this summer until they gave him one. The standoff lasted most of the summer before Titans management buckled and handed Johnson a deal on September 1st. The deal makes him the highest paid running back in the league.
A deal that has backfired spectacular on the Titans this season as Johnson has inexplicably gotten old in a hurry and has lost his spark. Johnson only ranks 28th out of all running backs in terms of yards rushed this season with a measly 366 halfway through the season. A far cry from his recorded stetting performance just two years ago, Johnson’s performance is so bad this year that some members of the media and management of other teams are wondering will the Titans just get rid of Johnson a mere two months after handing him the biggest pay day a running back has ever seen.

The Bears are justified to have concerns about the ability of Forte to perform for the length of his contract given the past and recent history of NFL running backs just losing their ability overnight. There is no Benjamin Button like cure that comes with these contracts that reserves the ageing process in running backs and despite Forte’s unquestioned importance to their scoring efforts the Bears might decide to spend the money elsewhere and grant Forte his wish of seening if indeed another NFL team will pay him. Yet you cannot blame Forte however if more words are floating around his head every time he gets ready to take the handoff or dusts himself off after been tackled.

“I got a shelf life of ten years, tops. My next contract's gotta bring me the dollars that'll last me and mine a long time. Shit, I'm out of this sport in 5 years. What's my family gonna live on? Huh” (Rod Tidwell, Jerry Maguire 1996)