(Sports) New Contract Emotional for Foster

As reported by Fox Sports Houston

A day after signing a five-year contract extension worth more than $20 million guaranteed, the enormity of that deal and what it means for Arian Foster and his family finally caught up with one of the NFL’s best running backs.
When asked about hardships he and his family endured when he was a child during a press conference to formally announce his new, $43.5 million deal with the Houston Texans, Foster became emotional and briefly stopped the press conference as he described what was probably the lowest point of his childhood.
“The straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Foster, “was when I saw my mother . . . she pawned her wedding ring to give us . . . excuse me . . .”
Foster teared up. After a brief pause, he continued. “She pawned her wedding ring to give us some food that night,” he said. “I told myself that I wanted to do something with my life.”

More emotion from Foster.
“I just wanted to do something with my life,” he said as he choked up again. “To make sure that when I had a kid, she never had to worry about the lights being on. She never had to worry about any of that. I didn’t care if I had to work three jobs, or whatever.

“That’s why I don’t complain too much. At the end of the day, we’re all people and we just want to smile. When we were growing up and it was tough, that was one thing my family always had — we smiled.”
Foster then explained why he was never publicly bothered over the past two years despite being obviously underpaid relative to his stature among NFL backs. Foster earned $525,000 last season, which is a bargain for the Texans considering Foster ran for 1,224 yards (fifth in NFL) and 10 touchdowns in 2011.
“When you start comparing yourself to another man’s mirror,” Foster said, “that’s when those negative thoughts start creeping in. My journey isn’t anybody else’s journey.”

Foster has become an inspirational story for players not selected in the NFL Draft. As an undrafted free agent in 2009, Foster said his goal was just to make the team. By the start of the 2010 season he had won the starting running back job and ended up as the NFL’s leading rusher. Foster ran for 1,616 yards and also led the NFL with 2,220 yards from scrimmage in his break-through season.
“Once you make the team, you play special teams as an undrafted free agent,” Foster said. “Once you play special teams, your goal is to be the best special teams player on the field. I started setting small goals like that each single day.”
Foster was reminded that Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson suffered through a sub-par 2011 after signing his monster $53.5 million contract.
“He missed all of training camp and I understand what that’s like because I missed part of training camp with a hamstring injury,” answered Foster. “I know how hard it is to get back in the flow of things. My biggest thing is I won’t approach the offseason any different. I think I have a huge obligation to this organization, the fans, to be the best me I can be for as long as I can.”
Foster also said he feels no extra pressure playing under the wright of such a huge contract.
“Actually, I think the pressure’s off,” he said. “It’s tough to play knowing a pending contract is there. Playing with that weight off of your shoulders and not having to worry about a long-term contract . . . you get to play free. You just get to play ball.”
As a young child, Foster promised that he would take care of his family once he made it to the NFL. He told each member of his family exactly what he planned to buy for them. With one oversight — his mother.
“She said, ‘What are you going to get me?’ ” Foster recalled. “I said, ‘I’ll get you a fruit basket.’ So that’s a running joke in my family throughout my career. It’s like, ‘When are you going to get mom her fruit basket?’ ”

Foster had a fruit basket delivered to his mother minutes after signing his contract Tuesday.