Eric Foster (American football)
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Homestead, Florida, U.S.
_(cropped).jpg) Foster with the Indianapolis Colts in 2010 | |||||||||||
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| Position | Defensive tackle | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | April 5, 1985 Homestead, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Homestead | ||||||||||
| College | Rutgers | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2008: undrafted | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Eric Jerome Foster (born March 5, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He went undrafted in the 2008 NFL draft. Foster signed a contract with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent. He played college football for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Foster was named All-Dade at linebacker by The Miami Herald following his senior year at Homestead High School where he led the team to a 9–4 season and the regional final in state playoffs.[citation needed]
College career
After redshirting in 2003, Foster made an immediate impact in 2004 as a backup defensive end, playing in all 11 games. Foster was injured during the second game of the 2005 season, only to return in 2006 as the team's starting defensive tackle, lining up to Ramel Meekins. Despite the unit's lack of size, Foster's six sacks helped Rutgers register forty-one sacks total in 2006, good for fifth in all of Division I-A,[1] as well as fourth in total defense.[2]
Foster gained national notoriety in 2006 for his stellar play, as well as for a popular clip aired by ESPN of a locker room speech. Snippets of the video were played at later home games. In addition, he makes a chopping motion with his arms and hands as a reference to his coach, Greg Schiano's motto, "Keep Choppin'."
For his efforts, Foster was named first-team all-Big East Conference. The Football Writers Association of America named him as a first-team All-American at defensive tackle,[3] as well as making Honorable Mention on the AP's team.[4] In 2007, he was named a preseason All-American by Sports Illustrated.
Foster was named to several pre-season All-America teams for 2007 at DT. He was named to the preseason watch list for the Lott Trophy, annually awarded to the best defensive player in the nation.