Ramon Foster

Ramon Foster

Pittsburgh Steelers
Personal information
Born:	(1986-01-07) January 7, 1986 Henning, Tennessee
Career information
College:	Tennessee
Undrafted:	2009
Career history
Pittsburgh Steelers (2009–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
2nd Team All-SEC Rivals.com (2007) Freshman All-SEC Coaches (2005) ESPN All-MayDay Team (2007) AFC Champion (2010)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2015
Games played: 87 Games started: 72

Ramon Foster (born January 7, 1986) nicknamed, "The Big Ragu", is an American football offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He is the brother of St. Louis Rams offensive lineman, Renardo Foster. He played college football at Tennessee where he played in a career total of 44 games and also earned All-SEC honors as a freshman a junior. Foster was named to the ESPN Mark May´s 2007 "MayDay Team" after playing with a broken thumb throughout most of his junior season. Foster was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent on April 27, 2009 after he went undrafted in the 2009 NFL Draft. Foster earned the top backup guard position on the line, with his first NFL start against the Baltimore Ravens on November 29, 2009, starting in place of the injured Chris Kemoeatu, having replaced him mid-game during the team's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs the week before. Foster made his second start on December 20, 2009 in a game against the Green Bay Packers, also due to an injury to Kemoeatu.

Early career

Foster started for all four year both on offense and defense at Ripley High School in Ripley, Tennessee and also handled some place-kicking and kickoff duties. He was also a three-year starter on the school's basketball team. He also competed in track and field achieved a career-best shot put of 45-11.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Coming out of Tennessee in 2009, Foster attended the NFL combine and participated at Tennessee's annual Pro Day. Although being graded as a late-round draft pick, Foster ultimately went undrafted.

2009

Following the 2009 NFL Draft, Foster was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coming into the 2009 NFL season, Foster was initially competing to be a back-up guard against the Steeler's third round draft choice that year, Kraig Urbik. Following an injury to starting veteran guard Darnell Stapleton during training camp, Foster gained the oppurtunity to become the back-up guard. As a rookie, Foster did not play in the first 2 games of the 2009 NFL season. He received his first playing time during a Week 3 contest at the Cincinnati Bengals. After sharing time with veteran Chris Kemoeatu, he received his first career start in a Week 12 loss, to the division-rival, Baltimore Ravens. Foster returned to the starting position for the last 3 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 4 starts and played in 14 games.

2010

Although he finished 2009 as a starter, he did not begin the following season as the starting guard. He received his first playing time in 2010, in a Week 3 38-13 victory at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Foster didn't receive his first start that year until Week 10 against the New England Patriots. He then remained the starting guard for last 7 games of the 2010 season. He finished his second season with 8 starts in 12 games played.

2011

Beginning in 2011, Foster began to be a mainstay on the Steeler's offensive line. For the third consecutive year he didn't play in the season opener but received his position as the starting guard the next week in a 24-0 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. After sitting out the next week, he returned in Week 4 against the Houston Texans and remained the starter for the rest of the season.

The Steeler's finished first atop the AFC North with a 12-4 record and Foster went on to play in Super Bowl XLV and eventually lost to the Green Bay Packers. He finished 2011 with a career-high 14 games started in 15 games played.

2012

Following the Super Bowl loss the previous season, Foster played in his first season opener of his career against the Denver Broncos in 2012. This also marked his first full season playing and starting at guard.

2013-Present

In 2013, he started all but one game. The Steeler's kept Foster out due to injury during a Week 11 matchup against the Detroit Lions. On May 11, 2013, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced they had signed Foster to a new contract after showing promise the last two seasons. It was reportedly a 3-year $5.5 million contract with $900k guaranteed and $900k signing bonus.

The next season, he missed 2 games during the 2014 regular season. He returned to his starting role during a Week 5 victory at the Jacksonville Jaguars. Throughout the 2014-2015 season he has started 25+ games in a row.

In his 7 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers he has appeared in 99 games, started 84, and has only missed 13 games.

External links

• UT Sports Official Bio
• Pittsburgh Steelers Bio