Jayson D. Foster (born July 22, 1985) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), United Football League (UFL), and

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He was signed by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2008. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (informally known as Southern or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The largest campus is in Statesboro, with additional campuses in Savannah ( Armstrong Campus) and Hine ...

and was the 2007

Walter Payton Award The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports ...

winner. Foster was also a member of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

Florida Tuskers Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Sacramento Mountain Lions The Sacramento Mountain Lions were a professional American football team based in Sacramento, California that played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League. The franchise originated as the California Redwoods, and pl ...

and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

Early life

A three-year football letterman for Cherokee High School in

Canton, Georgia Canton is a city in and the county seat of Cherokee County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 22,958, up from 7,709 in 2000. Geography Canton is located near the center of Cherokee County at (34.2273 ...

for head coach Brian Dameron, Foster rushed for 1,700 yards and passed for 700 yards while accounting for 25 offensive touchdowns as a senior. He was selected as Cherokee County's ‘Offensive Player of the Year’ and was picked to all-county, all-region and all-state squads in 2002. He was also named Region 6-5A ‘Player of the Year.’ He was named an all-county and all-region (honorable mention) choice as a quarterback in 2001 rushing for 1,200 yards (10.3 ypr) and eight TDs while passing for another three scores. He was voted as the school's ‘Offensive Player of the Year’ as a sophomore and junior. He garnered all-county and all-region accolades while earning selection as county's ‘Offensive Player of the Year’ as a sophomore wide receiver netting 884 reception yards and 11 TDs on 42 catches in 2000. He maintained a 3.73 grade point average throughout high school career.

College career

Foster was named ‘Freshman of the Year’ by the Southern Conference head coaches. He played in all 12 games starting three times at wide receiver. He was the only Eagle to ever score a touchdown five different ways: rushing, passing, receiving, punt return and kickoff return. During his Sophomore year, as starting quarterback, Foster set a conference record rushing for a touchdown in all 12 games, the only player in I-AA to accomplish that feat. He rushed for 1,481 yards which was the third-most rushing yards by a quarterback in NCAA I-FCS history. He led the Eagle offense to its fifth straight I-FCS rushing title, averaging 387 yards on the ground and the team ranked sixth nationally in scoring offense (38 ppg) and eighth in passing efficiency and total offense. Individually, he ranked 10th in rushing (123.4 ypg), 55th in total offense, third in scoring (126 points) and 34th in all-purpose yards. During his Junior year, former Coach

Brian VanGorder Brian VanGorder (born April 17, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He was the defensive coordinator at Bowling Green State University, a position he assumed in 2019. Prior to that, he was defensive coordinator at the Universit ...

switched Foster from quarterback to wide receiver. Nevertheless, Foster was named First-team All-SoCon (wide receiver by the coaches, return specialist by the media association)and Second-team All-SoCon (return specialist as voted by the coaches). He became the only player in school history with at least an 80-yard rush, reception, punt return and kickoff return.Foster wins Payton Award – with video (Archives)
/ref> During his senior year, Foster retook the helm at quarterback and led his Eagles to a 7–4 mark and captured the 2007 Walter Payton Award. He was also named the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

Offensive Player of the Year. Foster compiled a school record 3,047 yards of total offense, breaking that of College Football Hall of Famer

Tracy Ham Tracy Ham (born January 5, 1964) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played for the Edmonton Eskimos, the Toronto Argonauts, the Baltimore Stallions, and the Montreal Alou ...

. Foster also ranked second nationally in rushing yards per game (167.6). He graduated in December 2007 with a degree in Logistics and Intermodal Transportation.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

After going undrafted in the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

, Foster was signed by the

as an

. He was waived by the Dolphins on August 30 during final cuts but was re-signed to the team's

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

a day later. He was released from the practice squad on September 2.

First stint with Steelers

Foster was signed to the

of the

on October 14, 2008 after the team released

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Jordan Reffett. He was released on November 7 to make room for

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Justin Vincent Justin Vincent (born January 25, 1983) is a former American football running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college footb ...

Denver Broncos

Foster was signed to the

of the

on November 26, 2008. He was waived on April 28, 2009.

Second stint with Steelers

Foster was re-signed by the

on May 1, 2009. Foster was released by the Steelers again on June 18, 2009.

Baltimore Ravens

Foster signed with the

on July 28, 2009. He was one of the final cuts on September 5, 2009.

References

External links

Georgia Southern Eagles bioStats Crew profile
*United Football League bio
-> {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Jayson 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Canton, Georgia Players of American football from Cherokee County, Georgia American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers American football return specialists Georgia Southern Eagles football players Walter Payton Award winners Miami Dolphins players Denver Broncos players Pittsburgh Steelers players Baltimore Ravens players Sacramento Mountain Lions players Florida Tuskers players Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) Canadian football wide receivers Montreal Alouettes players