FAYETTEVILLE - Barry Foster was sitting in his Arkansas dorm room watching the 1990 NFL Draft unfold on television when he got a call from the Cleveland Browns.
A scout from the Browns told Foster Cleveland was getting ready to select him in the second round with the 45th overall pick. It was welcome news for Foster, a fullback who became the first Razorback to declare for the draft after his junior season.
“I was so excited that I was going in the second round,” Foster said Friday night after being inducted into the UA Sports Hall of Honor. “I was thinking, ‘Yeah, this was the right decision to turn pro.’ ”
Foster then watched as the Browns selected Michigan running back Leroy Hoard with their second-round pick. His emotions quickly changed from excitement to disappointment.
“I was sitting there by myself going, ‘Wow, no phone call,’ ” he said. “I sat there for about an hour saying, ‘Man, I made a mistake.’ I repeated that probably about a thousand times.’ “
Foster said he decided to leave his room so he could visit some other Razorbacks who were hoping to be drafted. Later he called his answering machine and had a message from a Pittsburgh Steelers official who informed Foster he’d been taken by the team in the fifth round at No. 128.
“I was just so happy to be drafted,” Foster said. “Going to the Steelers turned out to be the best thing for me.”
Foster became a two-time Pro Bowl player with Pittsburgh and set the franchise record by rushing for 1,690yards on 390 carries in 1992.
But Foster’s NFL career ended after five seasons. He was traded to the Carolina Panthers after the 1994 season and released when he failed a physical. He had a brief comeback with the Cincinnati Bengals, but after a few practices Foster decided to retire for good.
His NFL statistics included 915 carries for 3,943 yards and 26 touchdowns and 93 receptions for 804 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“I had my moments, but the life of a running back in the NFL is usually pretty short,” said Foster, who is 44. “Running backs don’t last that long because we get chewed up.
“We all want more. We all want the Emmitt Smith career, the Barry Sanders career, but those are reserved for the Hall of Famers. Everybody can’t do what they did.”
Foster said he had many injuries during his NFL career, including some concussions. He was among more than 4,500 former players who filed a concussion-related lawsuit against the NFL, which ended with a $765 million settlement to provide compensation, exams and research.
Foster said he hasn’t yet talked with an attorney and doesn’t know how much of the settlement money he might receive.
“This is just me - I’m not speaking for anyone else - I would have liked to see the confidential files on what the NFL knew about concussions, and when they knew it,” Foster said. “People say if you’re a football player, you know the risks. But there were some things we didn’t know.”
Foster is now a coach and physical education teacher at Delay Middle School in Lewisville, Texas. He lives in Colleyville, a Dallas suburb near his hometown of Duncanville.
“I get an opportunity to impact a lot of sixth-, seventh and eighth-graders,” said Foster, who coaches football, basketball and track. “I’m very excited and glad to have that job.”
Foster said he had hoped to coach in the NFL, and he coached with the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe and had internships with the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins.But when a full-time coaching job didn’t materialize, he worked for several years as an account manager with Dr Pepper and as a terminal operator for Shell at a pipeline receiving plant.
“I had my wife and my kids, and I decided I wanted to get out of sports and have a regular job, and those were good jobs with good companies,” Foster said. “But they just didn’t make make me feel fulfilled, and that’s why I got into teaching and coaching.”
Foster was heavily recruited out of Duncanville High School, including scholarship offers from Texas, TexasA&M and Arizona State, but he chose Arkansas because of the chance to play immediately in Coach Ken Hatfield’s Wishbone offense.
“Arkansas sold me on the fact I was going to play as a true freshman,” he said. “Then when I got here, I fell in love with the Razorbacks and all the stuff that went with it, so it was a good choice for me.”
Foster rushed 375 times for 1,977 yards and 19 touchdowns at Arkansas from 1987-1989 and helped the Razorbacks win Southwest Conference championships his final two seasons. He had 1,008 yards in kickoff returns.
Foster was debating whether to turn pro about the same time Hatfield left Arkansas to become Clemson’s coach. That convinced Foster it was time to leave.
“I didn’t want to play at Arkansas for any coach other than Ken Hatfield,” he said.
Foster was named to Arkansas’ All-Century team in 1994, but said he had bitter feelings at the time because Jack Crowe - Hatfield’s replacement - had him moved out of the athletic dorm and banned from the team’s facilities after he announced he was turning pro.
Gradually, Foster said he decided he wanted to become more involved with Arkansas.
“I’m just glad that things have worked out, because I didn’t leave Arkansas on the best terms,” he said. “Now it’s come back full circle where I can embrace Arkansas and they can embrace me.”
“As you get older, you want to share things with your kids. I can hold my head up and say I was part of those Southwest Conference championship teams. I’m not going to try and hide that.”
Sports, Pages 36 on 09/01/2013