Arian Foster: 'I feel like I'm the best running back in the league'
theGRIO REPORT - Don't worry, Arian Foster isn't calling anyone out. He's just reminding everyone his team's slow start and his own injury concerns haven't shaken his confidence...
Don’t worry, Arian Foster isn’t calling anyone out.
He’s just reminding everyone his team’s slow start and his own injury concerns haven’t shaken his confidence.
“I feel like I’m the best running back in the league,” Foster told theGrio.com. “Every running back playing in the NFL should feel like they’re the best running back in the league. If you don’t feel like that, there’s no reason for you to play.”
Foster is nursing a hamstring injury he sustained during the first quarter of the Texans game against the Chiefs in Week 7. This week, the 27-year-old running back missed practice on Monday and was limited in Wednesday’s session.
The Texans are coming off a bye week and face the Indianapolis Colts Sunday. It will be an “end-of-week decision” if Foster will play, according to head coach Gary Kubiak.
“You have to have a short-term memory if you’re trying to have a successful season,” Foster said. “If you win, you can’t ride the highs and if you lose, you can’t ride the lows. It’s just how it is. Right now, I’m just focused on getting healthy and doing everything I can for my team to be successful.”
Foster went undrafted in 2009, but quickly became one of the league’s premiere running backs one season later. His commitment to healthy eating, anti-obesity advocacy and exploration of veganism earned him praise off the field.
GQÂ called him the ‘NFL’s Unstoppable Vegan Philosopher,’ back in September. His recent investment in Health Warrior, Inc. shouldn’t surprise anyone. The company makes chia bars, a high-protein ‘snack’ made out of chia seeds. Foster says he now eats the bars two to three times a day.
He said he hopes his involvement with Health Warrior will show others that healthy eating shouldn’t be considered “corny” or just “something that hippies do.”
“The biggest hurdle in this plight is the lack of knowledge surrounding nutrition,” Foster said. “It didn’t really hit me how big nutrition was until I left college and started training for the NFL.”Â
TheGrio’s 100|Â Arian Foster, keeping it ‘zen’ while running wild in NFL
So don’t expect to see Foster in the next commercial for McDonald’s ‘Mighty Wings.’
Last year, a “national” fast food chain (Foster wouldn’t say which) approached him for a promotion opportunity with his radio show. Foster was to hold his radio show at a specific location to attract customers and promote the new ‘food,’ and in exchange the fast food chain would buy up so many ad slots.
Foster turned it down.
“I feel like they don’t really care what they feed to the public and what they feed kids,” Foster recalls thinking. “It’s all about profit for them. And that’s not what I’m about. I’m about spreading…that light and knowledge and they’re kind of selling poison and disguising it as ‘We’re doing it for kids. That’s just not how I rock.”
Health Warrior’s CEO Shane Emmett said Foster’s investment (undisclosed) shows how “authentic” he is.
Last summer, Foster heard the jokes around the league and in the locker room when he announced his intentions to adopt a vegan diet. Foster said he knows the switch wasn’t perfect, but simply a part of his evolution as a healthy eater. It’s a far cry from the fast food diet he “indulged in” when he was in college.
“I’m not telling anybody how to live their lives,” Foster said. “I’m just providing a healthy alternative.”Â
Foster’s efforts may also remind some of the Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative. Foster said he’s trying to make an official partnership happen.
“I would love to do anything I can to help her out and aiding that cause,” Foster said of a potential FLOTUS pairing. “My camp is actually trying to get in touch with them. That’d be awesome if we could somehow do that.”
Follow theGrio.com’s Sports Editor Todd Johnson on Twitter @rantoddj
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