Chris Conte

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 actor Richard Conte.

College career

Conte expressed interest in UCLA, but ultimately committed to California on February 7, 2007. 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. In his senior year, Conte earned first team all-Pac-10 honors.

Professional career

At the NFL Scouting Combine, Conte was one of the top performers in the broad jump, as he finished 4th among defensive back prospects.

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. 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. 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. Conte was eventually placed on the 2011 All-Rookie Team by Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers of America. 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. Despite this, Conte started against the Indianapolis Colts in the season opener, and intercepted an Andrew Luck pass that was deflected by Tim Jennings. After the Week 8 win over the Carolina Panthers, Conte was fined $21,000 for hitting Brandon LaFell, a defenseless player, in the head. The fine was eventually reduced $10,000. 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.

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." 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. 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.

2014

In March 2014, Conte underwent shoulder surgery, and was out for 4–5 months, missing training camp. 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.

2015

On March 12, 2015 Conte signed a one-year contract with Tampa Bay Buccaneers, reuniting him with Lovie Smith. On January 1, 2016, Conte was placed on injured reserve. 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. On November 13 against the Bears, Conte recorded the first touchdown return of his career after intercepting Jay Cutler, returning the pick 20 yards for a touchdown against his former team. During the season Conte was ranked as the 88th best safety in the league by Pro Football Focus. Overall, he complied a player grade of 42 which is significantly below average.

2017

On March 9, 2017, Conte signed a two-year contract extension with the Buccaneers.