Chris Conte
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Conte during his tenure at Cal in August 2009 | |||||||||
| No. 23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |||||||||
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| Position: | Safety | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | February 23, 1989 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Los Angeles, California | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 203 lb (92 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Los Angeles (CA) Loyola | ||||||||
| College: | California | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2011 / Round: 3 / Pick: 93 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 11, 2016 | |||||||||
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Christopher Michael Conte (born February 23, 1989) is an American football safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at California.
Early and personal life
Conte attended Loyola High School, and graduated in 2007. During his time at Loyola, Conte played both safety and wide receiver. Conte was named to the All-Far West team by SuperPrep, and posted 58 tackles with 4 INTs and caught 43 passes for 614 yards and 4 touchdowns in his senior year, as well as helping his team to the CIF Division I title as a junior, collecting 38 tackles and 2 INTs.
Conte is the grandson of the actor Richard Conte.
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Conte Safety |
Los Angeles, California | Loyola High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Feb 7, 2007 | |
Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 68
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| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 65 Rivals: 22 | ||||||
Sources:
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College career
Conte expressed interest in UCLA, but ultimately committed to California on February 7, 2007.[1] Conte played in 50 games, with 17 starts during his four seasons at Cal, and compiled career totals of 157 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss (-13 yards), two interceptions (for no return yards), 11 pass breakups, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, three kick returns for a total of 55 yards (18.3 ypr) and one blocked punt that he returned six yards for a touchdown against the Arizona State Sun Devils.[2] In his senior year, Conte earned first team all-Pac-10 honors.
Stats
| Defensive | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | Passes Broken | ||||
| 2007 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2008 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||||
| 2009 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| 2010 | 72 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 157 | 2 | 4 | 11 | ||||
| Source: Chicago Bears[3] | ||||||||
Professional career
 Video of Conte's NFL Combine workouts |
| Ht | Wt | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2 in | 208 lb | 4.63 s | 4.19 s | 7.01 s | 35.5 in | 10 ft 7 in | 18 reps | ||||||||||||
| All values from the NFL Combine[4] | |||||||||||||||||||
At the NFL Scouting Combine, Conte was one of the top performers in the broad jump, as he finished 4th among defensive back prospects.[5]
Chicago Bears
2011
Conte was selected by the Chicago Bears in the third round (93rd overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft. He signed a four-year contract with the Bears on July 29, 2011. On October 16, 2011, Conte made his first career start against the Minnesota Vikings.[6] In week seven against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Wembley Stadium, Conte recorded his first career interception after stripping the ball from Buccaneers receiver Mike Williams at the goal line.[7] He was placed on injured reserve on December 19 due to a foot sprain suffered in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks on December 18.[8] Conte was eventually placed on the 2011 All-Rookie Team by Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers of America.[9] For the 2011 season, Conte played 14 games (started 9) with 23 tackles, 1 interception, and 2 passes defended.
2012
In the second game of the 2012 preseason against the Washington Redskins, Conte separated his shoulder.[10] Despite this, Conte started against the Indianapolis Colts in the season opener,[11] and intercepted an Andrew Luck pass that was deflected by Tim Jennings.[12] After the Week 8 win over the Carolina Panthers, Conte was fined $21,000 for hitting Brandon LaFell, a defenseless player, in the head.[13] The fine was eventually reduced $10,000.[14] For the 2012 season, Conte started 15 games with 52 tackles, 2 interceptions, 9 passes defended, and 1 fumble recovery.
2013
In 2013, Conte recorded a career-high three interceptions.[15]
On December 29, 2013, in the final game of the Bears regular season against the Green Bay Packers with a playoff berth on the line, Conte did not get a pre-snap defensive "check" out of zone coverage and into a blitz with man coverage which allowed wide receiver Randall Cobb to score the go-ahead and eventual winning touchdown. NBC Sports analyst Rodney Harrison stated on air, "He just flat-out blows the coverage, everyone else is playing man-to-man coverage, and he lets his wide receiver go straight down the field."[16] Though Conte did record an interception earlier in the game, another pass went right through his outstretched arms as he dove for it earlier in the fourth quarter, losing a chance to potentially put the game out of reach with an interception and drawing the ire of Bears fans.[17] For the 2013 season, Conte started all 16 games with 73 tackles, 3 interceptions, 7 passes defended, and 2 forced fumbles.
Conte was ranked as the 82nd out of 86 total rankings in safety performance during the 2013 season under new defensive coordinator Mel Tucker, according to Pro Football Focus. However, in 2011 and 2012 Conte was much closer to the middle of the pack, ranking 43rd and 56th respectively.[18]
2014
In March 2014, Conte underwent shoulder surgery, and was out for 4–5 months, missing training camp.[19] On September 13, 2014, Conte was fined $22,050 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on wide receiver Robert Woods during Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills. Conte was unable to stay healthy during the 2014 season. He only played in twelve games in 2014, and left seven games due to various injuries. Conte finished the season with 3 interceptions and 43 tackles.[20]
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2015
On March 12, 2015 Conte signed a one-year contract with Tampa Bay Buccaneers, reuniting him with Lovie Smith.[21] On January 1, 2016, Conte was placed on injured reserve.[22] Conte concluded the 2015 season by appearing in 14 games and accumulated a total of 79 tackles, two forced fumbles and two interceptions.
2016
On March 13, 2016 Conte signed a one-year contract to remain with the Buccaneers.[23] On November 13 against the Bears, Conte recorded the first touchdown return of his career after intercepting Jay Cutler,[24] returning the pick 20 yards for a touchdown against his former team.[25]
References
- ↑ "Chris Conte - Yahoo! Sports". Rivals.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
- ↑ "Cal Bears Rout Arizona State, 50-17 « CBS San Francisco". Sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com. 2010-10-23. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
- ↑ "Roster". Chicago Bears. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
- ↑ "National Football League: NFL Draft 2011 - Chris Conte". Nfl.com. 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
- ↑ "NFL Events: Combine Top Performers". Nfl.com. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
- ↑ "Chicago Bears: Chris Conte". www.chicagobears.com. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- ↑ "Yet another safety combo gets job done for Bears". Articles.chicagotribune.com. 2011-10-23. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
- ↑ McClure, Vaughn and Brad Biggs (December 19, 2011). "Conte placed on IR; Bears add to roster". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
- ↑ "Conte named to All-Rookie team". Csnchicago.com. 2012-01-24. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
- ↑ Jensen, Sean (2012-08-21). "Chris Conte separated shoulder; plans to be ready by season opener - Inside the Bears". Blogs.suntimes.com. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
- ↑ "Bears-Colts Inactives: Podlesh, Conte Will Play « CBS Chicago". Chicago.cbslocal.com. Retrieved 2012-09-09.
- ↑ Mayer, Larry. "Jennings plays takeaway in Bears victory". Chicagobears.com. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
- ↑ Mayer, Larry (2012-11-02). "Jeffery feels former college teammate's pain". Chicago Bears. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
- ↑ Mayer, Larry (2013-08-23). "Teammates don't think Bostic deserved fine". Chicago Bears. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
- ↑ "Postgame notes: Bears vs. Packers". Chicago Bears. 2013-12-29. Retrieved 2013-12-30.
- ↑ Wolfley, Bob (2013-12-29). "NFL analysts point to Bears' Chris Conte". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
- ↑ "Hey Chris Conte, Catch the Ball". DaBearsBlog. 2013-12-29.
- ↑ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1908923-5-contracts-chicago-bears-must-reevaluate-this-offseason/page/5
- ↑ Mayer, Larry (2014-04-03). "Conte out 4-5 months after surgery". Chicago Bears. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
- ↑ Campbell, Rich (2014-12-14). "Bears' Chris Conte sits Monday, but numerous injuries don't faze him". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2015-02-20.
- ↑ Bucs Get Defensive, Sign Melton, Conte
- ↑ "Bucs put safety Chris Conte on IR". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- ↑ "Buccaneers Bring Chris Conte Back". www.buccaneers.com. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
- ↑ Young, Shalise (2016-11-14). "Chris Conte really, really savored Tampa Bay's win over the Bears". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ↑ Mayer, Larry (November 13, 2016). "Bears blasted by Bucs in Tampa". Chicago Bears. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NFL.com • ESPN • Pro-Football-Reference
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio
- Chicago Bears bio
- California Golden Bears bio