Former Bruin star steps up for Senior Bowl challenge

  Daily Bruin File Photo DESHAUN FOSTER

By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter

MOBILE, Ala “”mdash; Somewhere between the belles bathed in yards
of pastel tulle, DeShaun Foster was hiding.

Or so the North defense at the Senior Bowl might have
thought.

After Foster was stopped on his first carry Saturday, he
returned to his usual elusive self. His vision enabled Foster to
pick up four yards a carry, but it was the yards after contact that
drove the crowd wild when he fought through three defenders for six
yards in the first quarter.

“He (Foster) is a big man who can move the pile,”
said the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals head coach Dave McGinnis,
who coached the South team.

The game along with the week of practice attended by over 600
NFL scouts and staff gave Foster an opportunity to prove that he is
the top running back in the country. Unable to play for UCLA after
Nov. 16 because of an “extra benefits” violation,
Foster declined to comment on his NCAA suspension, preferring to
focus on the present and near future with the combine coming up in
four weeks.

“It was a bad situation, but I got through it and
I’m just here to play football,” he said in a press
conference earlier in the week. “Most people who know me
understood it wasn’t a situation that I just messed up and
took something from somebody. I had known this person and he tried
to help me out. It was just an unfortunate situation.

“Any time anything happens in your life, you don’t
want to make the same mistake twice. That’s how I’m
looking at it.”

Quiet but forceful on and off the field, Foster proved more
threatening as a receiver out of the backfield.

He spearheaded the South’s fifth touchdown drive
single-handedly as they capitalized on good field position at the
North 42. Foster set the pace when he moved the South 11 yards for
a first down at the North 31. He then added another reception and a
16-yard run, juking defenders to the North 15 where he was
gang-tackled. Foster carried the ball five yards to the North 10
yard line when the third quarter ended, and he was rotated out
before the South scored on a short touchdown pass.

Foster managed to gain 61 all-purpose yards in the Senior Bowl
despite playing approximately 10 minutes of the game, rotating with
three other tailbacks. With such a large roster, few players,
especially premier players, saw much time, due to a rotation and
fear of injury.

His college career having ended early, Foster showed he is more
than ready to move on to the next level.

Now, like his all-star colleagues, NFL defenses better get ready
to play “Where’s Foster?”