Ramon Sentel Foster (born January 7, 1986), nicknamed "the Big Ragu", 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

who played 11 seasons for the

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 ...

of 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). He is the brother of former

Rams In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)Renardo Foster. 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 ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

where he played in a career total of 44 games and also earned

All-SEC The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: * ...

honors as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

and a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

. Foster is a member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity.

Early life

Foster started for all four years, both on offense and defense, at Ripley High School in

Ripley, Tennessee Ripley is a city in Lauderdale County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 8,445 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County. Geography Ripley is located at (35.743115, −89.533872). According to the United States ...

and handled some placekicking and kickoff duties. In addition, he was a three-year starter on the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team and competed in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, achieving a career-best

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

of 45–11.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming out of Tennessee in 2009, Foster attended the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

and participated at Tennessee's annual

Pro Day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

. He was projected by many analysts to be drafted from anywhere from the sixth to seventh round or a priority undrafted free agent. He was rated as the 23rd best

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

in the draft out of the 183 available by NFLDraftScout.com.

2009

On April 27, 2009, Foster was signed 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 ...

by the

. He entered

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

competing to be a back-up guard against the Steelers' 2009 third-round draft pick,

Kraig Urbik Kraig Urbik (born September 23, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers after graduating fr ...

. Following an injury to starting veteran guard Darnell Stapleton during training camp, Foster gained the opportunity to become the starting right guard. He ultimately lost the starting job to

Trai Essex Trai Jamar Essex (born December 5, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts. He played college ...

and was named at backup guard and right tackle to begin the season. He made his professional regular season debut during a Week 3 contest at the

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

. On November 29, 2009, he received his first career start in a Week 12 loss, to the division-rival

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 ...

, after replacing an injured Chris Kemoeatu at left guard. Foster returned to the starting position on December 20, 2009, against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

and remained there for the last three 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 four starts and played in 14 games.

2010

Although he finished his rookie season as the starting left guard, he entered training camp competing with Essex and Urbik for the starting job. He was named the backup to starting guards Essex and Kemoeatu to begin the season and made his season debut in a Week 3 38–13 victory at the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. On November 14, 2010, he made his first start of the season, replacing an ineffective Essex at right guard, in a 39–26 loss to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. He then remained the starting guard for last 7 games of the 2010 season. The Steelers finished atop the

AFC North The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was created after the NFL realign ...

with a 12–4 record and Foster went on to start at right guard in a 31–25 loss to the Green Bay Packers in

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. He finished his second season with 8 starts in 12 games played.

2011

Foster entered training camp in 2011 competing with Kemoeatu, Doug Legursky, and Essex for both starting guard positions. He lost the starting right guard position to Legursky but was named the starter for a Week 2 victory over the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

. After sitting out the next week, he returned in Week 4 against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

and remained the starter for the rest of the season. This marked the third consecutive year he began the year as a backup but finished the season as a starter; also marking the beginning of Foster being a mainstay on the Steelers

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

. He finished 2011 with a career-high 14 games started in 15 games played.

2012

Foster was named the starting right guard after winning the job over rookie David DeCastro and started the Steeler's season-opener against

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 ...

. This also marked his first full season playing and starting at guard.

2013

He was moved over to left guard after the departure of Willie Colon and started all but one game throughout the season. The Steelers kept Foster out due to injury during a Week 11 matchup against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. On March 11, 2013, the Steelers signed Foster to a three-year, $5.50 million contract that also included a $900,000 signing bonus. They rewarded him with a new contract after showing promise the last two seasons.

2014

He started the Steelers' season-opening 30–27 victory over the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

and started the following game. Foster then missed Week 3 and 4, after twisting his ankle during a practice. He returned to his starting role during a Week 5 victory at the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

. He started 14 games in 2014, helping the Steelers finish first in the AFC North with an 11–5 record. They went on to lose the AFC Wildcard game 30–17 to the

2015

Foster started at left guard throughout the 2015 season and started all 16 regular season games. The Steelers finished second in the AFC North with a 10–6 record. After defeating the Bengals in the AFC Wildcard, they went on to lose the divisional round to the eventual

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) ...

champion Broncos. Foster had one of his best seasons after improving as a run blocker and surrendering only 31 pressures in all 18 games. He earned a grade of 82.3 from

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

(PFF) in 2015.

2016

On May 9, 2016, the Steelers signed Foster to a three-year, $9.60 million contract with a signing bonus $2.75 million. He started all 16 regular season games and surrendered only one

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

throughout the whole season. Foster brought his streak to 46 consecutive starts in-a-row. PFF ranked him the 24th best offensive lineman in 2015. He was also ranked the sixth best guard with an overall grade of 87.1 by PFF and the fourth best in pass blocking with a grade of 89.7.

2019

On March 7, 2019, Foster signed a two-year, $8.25 million contract extension with the Steelers through the 2020 season. Foster announced his retirement on March 16, 2020.

References

External links

UT Sports bioPittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Ramon) 1986 births Living people American football offensive tackles Pittsburgh Steelers players Tennessee Volunteers football players Players of American football from Tennessee People from Henning, Tennessee