Bears knew rookie running back Matt Forte was special

He broke one 50 yards untouched for a touchdown on the fourth carry of his NFL career Sunday night in prime time and Americans in front of TV sets heard Al Michaels and John Madden rave as they saw replays of Matt Forte's zigs and zags. And they turned to each other in their homes and asked:

"Who?"

Forte, is it - with an accent mark over the e?

But the other Chicago Bears already knew who he was.

"I told everybody he was going to be special," defensive tackle Tommie Harris was pleased to say Wednesday before practice. "My parents, my friends, everybody."

Bears from the Super Bowl holdovers to the team's rookie third-string quarterback seemed to sense the same thing.

"I could see it right away, how Matt is so smooth on the field and so explosive," Caleb Hanie said. "You can tell when you see a guy who has something extra."

Hanie was undrafted. He came to Bears' camp knowing he and the highly regarded Forte would be treated the same way in some respects, like being ordered by the older guys to sing in front of the whole team.

The veterans threw him a curve and insisted that he not do his college (Colorado State) fight song. Hanie gave it some thought and finally decided to warble Willie Nelson's "Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys."

"I think a lot of them got up and walked out," Hanie said with a laugh.

Forte, on the other hand, was permitted to entertain the team with his alma mater Tulane's fight song, a privilege of his second-round draft pick status, perhaps.

He might have preferred one of the 50 Cent or Alicia Keys songs from his iPod.