Arian Foster Calls it a Day

After seven and a half years in the NFL, former Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans running back Arian Foster has decided that enough is enough. His 2016 campaign has been marred by injuries and his current team, the Miami Dolphins, have enjoyed the sudden emergence of fellow running back Jay Ajayi the last two weeks.
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When healthy, Foster was one of the better running backs in the NFL since entering the league as an undrafted free agent back in 2009. His rookie season was nothing to speak of, only starting one game and rushing for less than 300 yards for the entire season.

The next three years, however, were an entirely different story. Foster would break out in the 2010 season, leading the league in rushing with over 1600 yards. He would also lead the league in touchdowns that year with 16. He followed up his breakout sophomore season with an equally-impressive season in 2011. Despite missing 3 games, Foster still tallied over 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns.

2012 would see Foster cement himself as one of the greatest undrafted running backs in the history of the NFL. With yet another season over 1,300 yards (1,424 to be exact) and 15 touchdowns, Foster capped off one of the most impressive three-year runs for a running back ever, let alone one not thought well enough of to even hear his name called during the spectacle that is the NFL Draft.

After the 2012 season, however, Foster’s body started to fail him. He would not play another 16-game season the rest of his career, missing more than half the games in 3 of the next four seasons. Foster would only approach 1,000 yards once more in his career, running for 1,246 yards in a relatively-healthy 2014 season. After rushing for 41 touchdowns in his torrid three-year stretch, Foster would only see the end-zone 10 more times the next 3 and a half seasons.

Since moving on from the Houston Texans, Foster has seen his name in the media more for non-football related reasons than for his play on the field. Foster only carried the ball 22 times for 55 yards as a Dolphin, but found himself in the news multiple times for his decision to join Colin Kaepernick and others in kneeling during the National Anthem.
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With today’s announcement, Foster’s career comes to an unceremonious end. When healthy, Foster was something special on the field, and it’s sad to see such a promising career come to such a disappointing end.