Athletes - DeShaun Foster

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > DeShaun Foster

	Athletes - DeShaun Foster

DeShaun Xavier Foster (born January 10, 1980, in Charlotte, North Carolina) is an American football running back who plays for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League.

High School career

At Tustin High School in Tustin, California, Foster lettered three times each in football and basketball, and four times in track. In football, he was named the USA Today Player of the Year as a senior after rushing for 3,998 yards and a state single season record 59 touchdowns. For his career, he rushed for a total of 5,885 yards.

College career

Foster played at UCLA, where he set a team rushing record for true freshman with 673 yards and 10 touchdowns on 126 carries in 11 games. The next year he spent mostly on the bench with an ankle sprain, but still managed to record 375 yards and 6 scores on 111 carries. As a junior, he led the Bruins with 1,037 yards, while scoring 13 touchdowns. His final year, he posted 1,109 yards with 12 touchdowns; he had six games of over 100 rushing yards. He set a school record with a 301 yard game against Washington, and tied a record with four touchdowns. He ended his college career in the team top 10 in touchdowns (44), rushing yards (3,194) and points (266).

Pro career

Foster was taken in the second round (34th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft. He had a promising preseason, but was injured in a game against the New England Patriots, and sat out the remainder of the season on injured reserve. However, he returned the following season as a complement to Stephen Davis; Davis' bruising style matched well with Foster's speed. Foster finished the regular season with 113 carries for 429 yards. However, his best performances came in the 2003-04 playoffs. He had a memorable run in the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles, where he broke four tackles on a one yard end run to score, giving the Panthers a 14-3 lead. In Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Patriots, Foster scored on a 33 yard run that stands as the fourth-longest touchdown run in Super Bowl history. The following season looked promising for the Panthers, but many of the starters suffered season-ending injuries, and Foster was no exception. He broke his clavicle in a game against the San Diego Chargers. He returned the following season, and eventually surpassed his mentor, Davis, as the Panthers' starter. He led the team in yardage and carries, but suffered a broken ankle in a playoff game against the Chicago Bears that left him out for the remainder of the playoffs.

On Friday, March 10th Foster agreed to a three year, $14.5 million dollar contract with a $4.5 million dollar signing bonus with another $3 million in escalators and incentives. This is a $700,000 raise over the transition tag tender placed on Foster last month.

Career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for DeShaun Foster ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article DeShaun Foster; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.