Ramon Foster
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Ramon Sentel Foster (born January 7, 1986), nicknamed "The Big Ragu", 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 ...
guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...
who played 11 seasons for the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He is the brother of former
Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)Renardo Foster Renardo Sontonio Foster (born July 15, 1984) is a former American football offensive tackle. He was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Louisville. Foster has also been a member of the N ...
. 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 ...
at
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 ...
where he played in a career total of 44 games and also earned All- SEC honors as a
freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...
and a
junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...
. Foster is a member of
Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...
fraternity.


Early career

Foster started for all four years, both on offense and defense, at Ripley High School in
Ripley, Tennessee Ripley is a city in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 8,445 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County. Geography Ripley is located at (35.743115, −89.533872). According to the United States ...
and handled some placekicking and kickoff duties. In addition, he was a three-year starter on the school's basketball team and competed in track and field, achieving a career-best shot put of 45-11.


Professional career

Coming out of Tennessee in 2009, Foster attended the NFL combine and participated at Tennessee's annual Pro Day. He was projected by many analysts to be drafted from anywhere from the sixth to seventh round or a priority undrafted free agent. He was rated as the 23rd best offensive tackle in the draft out of the 183 available by NFLDraftScout.com.


2009

On April 27, 2009, Foster was signed 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 ...
by the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
. He entered training camp competing to be a back-up guard against the Steelers' 2009 third-round draft pick,
Kraig Urbik Kraig Urbik (born September 23, 1985) is a former American football offensive guard who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin after graduating from Hudson High School, and was drafte ...
. Following an injury to starting veteran guard
Darnell Stapleton Darnell Robert Stapleton (born September 21, 1985) is an offensive line assistant coach for the Florida Gators football team. A former American football offensive lineman, Stapleton was the starting right guard on the Super Bowl XLIII champion ...
during training camp, Foster gained the opportunity to become the starting right guard. He ultimately lost the starting job to
Trai Essex Trai Jamar Essex (born December 5, 1982) is a former American football offensive guard who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts. Early years Essex grew up in Fort Wayne, In ...
and was named at backup guard and right tackle to begin the season. He made his professional regular season debut during a Week 3 contest at the
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
. On November 29, 2009, he received his first career start in a Week 12 loss, to the division-rival
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
, after replacing an injured
Chris Kemoeatu Uikelotu Christopher Kemoeatu (pronounced ; born January 4, 1983) is a Tongan former professional American football guard. He played college football for the University of Utah Utes, and was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2005 ...
at left guard. Foster returned to the starting position on December 20, 2009, against the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
and remained there for the last three games of the regular season, as the Steelers ended with a 9–7 record and missed the playoffs. As a rookie in 2009, Foster had four starts and played in 14 games.


2010

Although he finished his rookie season as the starting left guard, he entered training camp competing with Trai Essex and Kraig Urbik for the starting job. He was named the backup to starting guards Essex and Kemoeatu to begin the season and made his season debut in a Week 3 38–13 victory at the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
. On November 14, 2010, he made his first start of the season, replacing an ineffective Trai Essex at right guard, in a 39-26 loss to 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 ...
. He then remained the starting guard for last 7 games of the 2010 season. The Steelers finished atop the
AFC North The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was adopted after the restructuring of the 2002 NFL s ...
with a 12–4 record and Foster went on to start at right guard in a 31–25 loss to the Green Bay Packers in
Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champi ...
. He finished his second season with 8 starts in 12 games played.


2011

Foster entered training camp in 2011 competing with Chris Kemoeatu,
Doug Legursky Wayne Douglas Legursky II (born June 9, 1986) is a former American football Center (American football), center. He was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Marshall Thundering Herd football, Ma ...
, and Trai Essex for both starting guard positions. He lost the starting right guard position to Legursky but was named the starter for a Week 2 victory over the
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
. After sitting out the next week, he returned in Week 4 against the
Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
and remained the starter for the rest of the season. This marked the third consecutive year he began the year as a backup but finished the season as a starter; also marking the beginning of Foster being a mainstay on the Pittsburgh Steeler's offensive line. He finished 2011 with a career-high 14 games started in 15 games played.


2012

Foster was named the starting right guard after winning the job over rookie David DeCastro and started the Pittsburgh Steeler's season-opener against
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 ...
. This also marked his first full season playing and starting at guard.


2013

He was moved over to left guard after the departure of Willie Colon and started all but one game throughout the season. The Steelers kept Foster out due to injury during a Week 11 matchup against 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 ...
. On March 11, 2013, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Foster to a three-year, $5.50 million contract that also included a $900,000 signing bonus. They rewarded him with a new contract after showing promise the last two seasons.


2014

He started the Pittsburgh Steeler's season-opening 30-27 victory over the
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 started the following game. Foster then missed Week 3 and 4, after twisting his ankle during a practice. He returned to his starting role during a Week 5 victory at the Jacksonville Jaguars. He started 14 games in 2014, helping the
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
finish first in the AFC North with an 11-5 record. They went on to lose the AFC Wildcard game 30-17 to the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
.


2015

Foster started at left guard throughout the 2015 season and started all 16 regular season games. The
Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
finished second in the AFC North with a 10-6 record. After defeating the
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
in the AFC Wildcard, they went on to lose the divisional round to the eventual
Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...
Champion
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 ...
. Foster had one of his best seasons after improving as a run blocker and surrendering only 31 pressures in all 18 games. He earned a grade of 82.3 from
Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...
in 2015.


2016

On May 9, 2016, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Foster to a three-year, $9.60 million contract with a signing bonus $2.75 million. He started all 16 regular season games and surrendered only one sack throughout the whole season. Foster brought his streak to 46 consecutive starts in-a-row.
Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...
ranked him the 24th best offensive lineman in 2015. He was also ranked the sixth best guard with an overall grade of 87.1 by PFF and the fourth best in pass blocking with a grade of 89.7.


2019

On March 7, 2019, Foster signed a two-year, $8.25 million contract extension with the Steelers through the 2020 season. Foster announced his retirement on March 16, 2020.


References


External links


UT Sports Official BioPittsburgh Steelers Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Ramon) 1986 births Living people American football offensive tackles Pittsburgh Steelers players Tennessee Volunteers football players Players of American football from Tennessee People from Henning, Tennessee