George Foster (born June 9, 1980) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

. He was drafted by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

20th overall in the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Foster was also a member of the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

College career

The 2000 season saw the then sophomore Foster earn the backup left tackle position. He was one of the first men off of the Georgia bench and earned extensive playing time during the season, including Georgia's 37-14 win over

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in the Oahu Bowl. At the conclusion of the 2001 spring drills, George Foster was named as the number one split tackle for the Bulldogs. He started nine games during the 2001 season as Georgia culminated their season against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

in the

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the ''TransPerf ...

. During his senior season in 2002 at the University of Georgia, Foster was part of an offensive line that helped the Bulldogs finish with a #3 national ranking in both major polls and also helped the team win a school record 13 games, including victories in the SEC Championship game and the 2003

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

Sugar Bowl The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in New Orleans, Louisiana. Played annually since January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Orange Bowl and Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in the country, surpassed onl ...

. Foster and the offensive line paved the way for the Bulldog offense all season long, as it averaged an SEC-best 32 points per game and garnered an offensive passing efficiency of 138.9. For his efforts, Foster was selected to play in the 2003

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

, the NCAA's post-season all-star game.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Foster was drafted by the

in the first round with the 20th overall pick in the

. In 2004, Foster started all 16 games at right tackle and did not miss an offensive snap. Foster was part of a line that set a franchise record by allowing only 15 sacks, breaking the previous best of 22 sacks set in 1971. Foster helped rookie

Tatum Bell Tatum Antoine Bell (born March 2, 1981) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oklahoma State. He is son of Tony and Terry Bell. H ...

post the first 100-yard game of his career, marking only the second time in franchise history that three different Broncos have had at least one 100-yard game in a season. Foster started all 16 games for the Broncos in 2005. He helped block for Mike Anderson who rushed for 1,014 yards and

who rushed for 921 yards. The team gained the second-most rushing yards (2,539) in Bronco history and the second-best rushing offense in the NFL.

Detroit Lions

On March 1, 2007, Foster was traded along with teammate

and a 5th round draft pick to the

in exchange for

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

Dré Bly Donald André Bly (born May 22, 1977) is a former American football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football for the University of North Carolina (UNC), and earned All-American ...

. He was released on June 1, 2009.

Cleveland Browns

Foster signed with the

on June 5, 2009. He was released on August 24.

Omaha Nighthawks

Foster was signed by the

of the United Football League on August 21, 2010. He was re-signed by the team on July 15, 2011.

New Orleans Saints

On August 3, 2011, Foster signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Personal life

Foster is a native of

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

. On May 7, 2019, Foster was inducted into the Macon Sports Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, George 1980 births Living people Players of American football from Macon, Georgia American football offensive tackles Georgia Bulldogs football players Denver Broncos players Detroit Lions players Cleveland Browns players Omaha Nighthawks players New Orleans Saints players