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Chicago Bears: 30 greatest players in franchise history

By Conor Dorney

Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images)
Walter Payton #34, Running Back for the Chicago Bears during his final game in the American Football Conference West game against the Los Angeles Raiders on 27 December 1987 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California, United States. The Bears won the game 6 - 3. Visions of Sport. (Photo by Mike Powell/Allsport/Getty Images) /
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Matt Forte, Chicago Bears
(Photo by David Banks/Getty Images) /

Matt Forte. 18. player. 57. . RB. 2008-15

NFL teams are constantly searching for the next great running back and few find any as consistent as former Bear Matt Forte, who comes in at No. 18 on our list of the greatest players in franchise history.

The Bears took Forte out of Tulane in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft, and he immediately became the team’s go-to ball carrier out of the backfield. Forte enjoyed a tremendous rookie season, rushing for 1,238 yards and eight touchdowns.

Not only was Forte great at running between the tackles, but he also was became of the best pass-catching running backs in all of football. He never recorded fewer than 340 yards receiving in his time with the team and had a remarkable 102 receptions for 808 yards in 2014, which would be his second-to-last season with the team.

Forte’s steady stream of production led him to become the second-leading rusher in franchise history, which as you’ll notice from some of the later names in our list, is rather impressive company.

After spending the past two seasons with the New York Jets, Forte announced his retirement this past April, and showed his appreciation for his time in Chicago by signing a one-day contract with the team to officially retire as a Bear.

Forte’s production and consistency make him one of the best running backs in team history and it could certainly be argued that he deserves a spot even higher on this list.

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