Throughout elementary school, Texans second-year running back Arian Foster told his teachers he wanted to be a professional football player when he grew up.
“Pick something else,” they would say.
“When I told them how I felt about their opinions, they would send me to the office,” Foster said with a chuckle after Tuesday’s organized team activities.
Growing up in urban Albuquerque, N.M., was never easy for Foster. Surrounded by gangs and general negativity, he found encouraging voices scarce.
“I wasn’t supposed to go to college, and I wasn’t supposed to amount to anything,” Foster said. “Whatever I accomplish in life, I wasn’t supposed to have because that’s what everyone told me.”
After his sophomore year of high school, he moved to San Diego, where he eventually earned a scholarship to play at Tennessee. He excelled in three seasons with the Volunteers, but after a subpar senior campaign, Foster entered the 2009 NFL draft as a question mark. He waited patiently through all seven rounds but never heard his name called.
Slaton’s pain his gain
Shortly after the draft, several teams contacted him, and Foster decided Houston had the best system for his one-cut running style.
In last season’s OTAs, players and coaches took notice of Foster’s hard-nosed attitude in practice, as if he were playing with a chip on his shoulder.
“There was nothing wrong with that chip being there, but there comes a point where everybody just wants to see you do your job,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “That started to take over last year with him.”
After spending the bulk of his rookie season on the practice squad, Foster finally got his chance when the Texans put starter Steve Slaton on injured reserve.
Foster had a breakout performance against Miami in the next-to-last game of the season, rushing for 97 yards and a touchdown in the Texans’ 27-20 victory. Against New England the next week, he ran for 117 yards on 20 carries and scored two TDs in a season-ending 34-27 win.
“I knew that I could perform if given the opportunity,” Foster said. “I just had to make the best of it once I got the chance.”
Last season, the Texans ranked 30th in the league with 3.5 yards per rushing attempt. Without Foster’s 4.8 mark, they would have ranked last. His average was ahead of all 22 running backs taken in last year’s draft with the exception of the New York Jets’ Shonn Greene (5.0).
Nothing set in stone
Through the first week of OTAs, Foster has been the starter, even though he spent the offseason working out like he was still an undrafted free agent. Does he remain spiteful about being passed up by so many teams?
“Absolutely,” Foster said with a grin. “I’m going to die with that chip on my shoulder — that’s how I was raised.”
Foster, who stayed in Houston during the offseason, added about five pounds of muscle and lowered his body-fat percentage. He’s listed at 229 pounds, a weight he says he’s comfortable playing at.
“I’m going to try and preserve this horse for as long as I can,” Foster said. “Coach Kubiak likes to say, ‘If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse,’ so I feel like I can take it a step further this year.”
Foster has shown speed so far during OTAs, but until the team puts on pads in August, he won’t get to display his new strength. Competing primarily with Slaton and second-round pick Ben Tate, Foster said he knows that nothing is for certain. But he’s still running hard to disprove the teams that didn’t want to draft him and those elementary teachers who doubted him.
“He knows this league is strictly about production, and if you’re doing it, you’re going to play,” Kubiak said. “He’s not making many mistakes right now, and we’re hoping to see it continue that way.”
