Chicago Bears: Matt Forte, Charles Tillman Help with NFL’s Financial Football
Published by Bob Bajek on November 9, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte and cornerback Charles Tillman helped Chicago area students Tuesday morning with the NFL‘s Financial Football program.
Both Forte and Tillman did not have much sleep after beating the Philadelphia Eagles 30-24 on Monday Night Football. The NFL players, whose plane landed in Chicago at 3:40 a.m., came to Bolingbrook High School to help teach kids about financial planning.
“Matt and I both made a commitment to come here before the game,” Tillman said. “We are men of our words and do what we say we will do.”
Forte and Tillman teamed up with U.S. Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-13th) and Visa in playing Financial Football, a football game from the Madden video game franchise. This program is run by the NFL and Visa to teach children about fiscal responsibility. The program has reached 33 states with players like the Seattle Seahawks‘ Tarvaris Jackson and San Francisco 49ers‘ Alex Smith and Patrick Willis talking to local teens.
Biggert said that former Bears quarterback Rex Grossman helped her with the event in the past.
To run a play, students had to answer financial questions on topics such as assets, debt, poor credit and 401(k) plans.
If a team gets a question right, it would get a statistically favorable play. If the question was incorrect, the other team would be able to steal and possibly get a favorable play.
Forte was a captain for the Bears and Tillman was the leader for the Detroit Lions, which was a preview for next Sunday’s game. The Bears won 8-7.
A finance major at Tulane University, Forte told the students to be careful in how they spend their money and learn how to save. Tillman, a criminal justice major at Louisiana-Lafayette, continued by saying his mom told him “money doesn’t grow on trees,” and that he is carefully planning for his retirement.
The two NFL stars then took pictures with the students after the event.
When the event ended, reporters from the Associate Press and local television stations did not waste a minute asking Forte about his contract situation.
One reporter asked if Forte found it a little ironic that he was telling the kids about financial freedom while he is searching for a contract extension.
“I majored in finance in college, so I’ve always been around the financial aspect of the game,” Forte said. “You could say that if you want to, but it kind of happened that way.”
Another reporter pointed out how center Roberto Garza just got a two-year extension.
“Good for him,” Forte said. “I’ve said all I’ve wanted to say about the contracts. He is a good player for us and he is playing great.”
Bob Bajek is a writing intern at Bleacher Report. All quotes unless stated otherwise are first hand or attributed to their source material.
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