Marcus Forston (born September 28, 1989) is an

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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

who is currently a free agent. Forston was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2012. 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 ...

for the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

High school career

Forston was a three-year starter at

Miami Northwestern High School Miami Northwestern Senior High School is a public four-year high school located in Miami, Florida, United States History Academics Northwestern has long been known for its academic challenges; however, the school has shown an unprecedented ...

. Forston helped lead Miami Northwestern towards back-to-back Florida 6A state championships. Forston had a strong junior year in 2006 earning 92 tackles and 20 sacks. He played an instrumental part in Miami Northwestern's Florida 6A State championship. Forston was included to the Miami Herald's All-Dade 6A-4A Football team. Forston's older brother, Dustin, played college football at Ole Miss and FAU. Forston entered into his senior year as a heavily sought-after recruit. Forston accounted for 72 tackles, earned 20 sacks, and forced 7 fumbles during his senior season at Miami Northwestern (2007), which often came while he was double or triple-teamed. Moreover, Forston sometimes lined up at

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

on goal-line situations (he caught one touchdown pass). Forston earned county and state honors for his play and was named to the Miami Herald's All Dade First-team and the State of Florida's All-State first-team. Forston also earned national recognition being named to several All-American teams, including ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', ''

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'', and ''

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''. Forston was chosen to represent East Team in the

U.S. Army All-American game The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

as a starter and was considered one of the best defensive tackles coming out of high school in 2008, earning comparisons to

Warren Sapp Warren Carlos Sapp (born December 19, 1972) is an American former football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sapp played college football at Miami, where h ...

. In 2010, ''

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'' called Forston—in retrospect—“maybe the best nose tackle prospect in the past five years.” Forston was considered a five-star recruit by ''

'' and was ranked the No. 1 defensive tackle in the nation. He chose Miami over Notre Dame,

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, calling Miami the "dream college right around the corner from my house."

College career

Forston played as a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

(2008) and was instrumental to the Miami Hurricanes' defensive rotation. During his freshman season, Forston recorded 17 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss, and 3 quarterback sacks. Forston was given the nickname “Big Boom” by his teammates. Forston subsequently earned multiple All-Freshman honors and was named to ''FWAA′s'' Freshman All-America team, ''College Football News′'' All-Freshman first-team, and ''Rivals.com′s'' 2008 Freshman All-America team. His sophomore season (2009) was derailed by an ankle injury that kept Forston out for the season. Forston was thereby granted a medical redshirt for the 2009 season. Forston came back strongly during the 2010 season registering 37 total tackles (16 solo and 21 assisted), 12 tackles for loss, 3 quarterback sacks, 1 interception and 2 passes defended. Forston's final season was cut short because of a season-ending knee injury against Bethune-Cookman. Forston subsequently decided to forgo his final season of eligibility and entered the NFL Draft.

Professional career

2012 NFL Draft

Forston entered the NFL Combine graded as the No. 15 prospect among defensive tackles. His workout performance was rather unimpressive compared to other defensive line prospects. Projected as a seventh-round selection by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'', Forston was ranked as the No. 24 defensive tackle available in the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. Forston was not drafted in the 2012 NFL Draft.

New England Patriots

;2012 Season Forston was signed as a UDFA after the draft by the New England Patriots. Forston initially made the team, but was waived on September 26. He was then re-signed to the team's practice squad and was later activated by the New England Patriots. Forston played in one game during the season; a 31-30 week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. ;2013 Season Forston was waived by the New England Patriots entering the 2013 season, but was later signed to their practice squad. Forston was re-signed by the New England Patriots after

Vince Wilfork Vincent Lamar Wilfork (born November 4, 1981) is a former American football nose tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes ...

's season-ending injury. Forston registered one tackle for loss in 'New England's Week 6 30-27 win against the New Orleans Saints. Forston earned his first NFL start in New England's Week 7 30-27 loss to the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

, registering two tackles, with one tackle for loss. On August 21, 2014, Forston was released by the Patriots.

St. Louis Rams

After not being offered by any NFL team in 2014, Forston interrupted his football career and worked in security. A

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

major in college, he had offers to join the Miami Gardens Police Department and the

Atlanta Police Department The Atlanta Police Department (APD) is a law enforcement agency in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. The city shifted from its rural-based Marshal and Deputy Marshal model at the end of the 19th century. In 1873, the department was formed with 2 ...

. In early August 2015, the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

signed Forston for their off-season roster. On September 5, 2015, he was waived by the Rams.

References

External links

New England Patriots bioMiami Hurricanes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forston, Marcus 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Florida American football defensive tackles Miami Hurricanes football players New England Patriots players St. Louis Rams players