The 2023 season is slowly but surely inching closer by the day, with today marking just 70 days from the Chicago Bears home opener on September 10th. To celebrate the approaching season, today's installment of Chicago Bears Countdown to Kickoff will focus on the life and career of the best player in franchise history to rep the number 70, offensive tackle Bobby Massie.
Bobby Massie's journey to the Chicago Bears
A native of Lynchburg, Virginia, Bobby Massie attended Liberty Christian Academy where he became an imposing force on the gridiron. Measuring it at 6' 6" and 315 lbs, Massie finished his high school career as a consensus five-star recruit, even ranking as high as the second overall tackle prospect.
Following his senior season, Massie fielded several scholarship offers from elite collegiate programs such as North Carolina and Tennessee. Eventually, Massie would commit to Ole Miss, where he quickly became an integral part of the offense.
The offensive tackle started every game during his final three collegiate seasons, with the vast majority of this time coming at the right tackle spot. Massie was such a dominant force at Ole Miss that in nearly half of his games, the offense had a 100+ yard rusher.
After a dominant collegiate career, Massie forwent his senior season and entered his name into the subsequent 2012 NFL Draft. Massie had to wait until the fourth round to hear his name call, but the Arizona Cardinals made him a professional football player with the 112th overall selection.
With the Cardinals, Massie was a plug-and-play starter from day one at the right tackle position. and was just one of three players to start all 16 of the team's games alongside wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The following season, Massie was demoted to a reserve role and only found playing time in half of the team's games.
By the start of the 2014 season, Massie regained his status as a full-time starter and led the way at the right tackle position in all 16 games during the year as well as 14 games in 2015 after being suspended for the first two games of the season.
Bobby Massie becomes dependable starter with Chicago Bears
Following Massie's 2015 campaign, the then-27-year-old tackle hit the open market, where he signed a three-year deal to become the starter with the Chicago Bears. Massie would be joining Kyle Long on the right side of the offensive line, with the latter being kicked back into his guard position with the arrival of the Ole Miss product.
In his first season with the Bears, Massie logged 15 starts on the year, a performance he repeated in 2017. In both seasons, Massie helped pave the way for a Jordan Howard-led backfield that accumulated at least 1,700 yards on the ground. In 2018, Massie started all 16 games at right tackle, and the veteran was rewarded with a brand new 4-year contract following the end of the season.
In 2019, Massie missed six games near the end of the season due to injury but looked to bounce back to his consistent and dependable form in 2020. Unfortunately, Massie's injury problems only worsened as the offensive tackle only appeared in eight games due to being placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.
Bobby Massie's career after the Chicago Bears
The following offseason, the Chicago Bears front office declined a team option on Massie's contract, making him once again a free agent, the second time in six seasons. Shortly after his release, the Denver Broncos signed the tackle to a one-year contract, where he played and started in 13 of the team's games during a Covid-impacted 2021 campaign.
Following his one-year stint with the Broncos, Massie has not received a contract from another squad and remains a free agent today. Massie has not officially retired, but considering he has already missed a full season, not due to injury, at the age of 34, a return to the professional ranks seems rather unlikely.
As it stands today, Massie has enjoyed a 10-season NFL career, his longest stop being his five-year stint with the Bears. During that span, Massie started in all 64 of the regular season contests that he was available for. In five seasons with the Cardinals and Broncos, Massie only logged 59 starts in the same amount of time.