Eleven years ago, Ramon Foster took part in the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie minicamp as an undrafted offensive lineman desperate to earn a job.
Foster not only did that, he became a starter throughout the course of his career, the past several seasons of which as a sage left guard on plenty of playoff-caliber teams. By the time Foster announced his retirement in March, only one guard in Steelers history had played more games for the franchise.
Coach Mike Tomlin asked Foster to address the Steelers 2020 rookie class on the day a virtual rookie minicamp kicked off Friday. Out of concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic, the camp is taking place remotely, so Foster’s speech was viewed on tablets, smartphones and laptops across the continent.
“I just thought that was a great guy to welcome those guys,” Tomlin said during a conference call with media Saturday. “A guy that understands the journey that many of those guys are attempting to walk. A guy who was an undrafted guy and went on and had a great career here that lasted over a decade, and really was just a well-respected professional — and a recently retired professional.”
Tomlin was pleased with Foster’s remarks, saying he “delivered in a big way.”
“I thought the position that he’s in, the perspective that he has, would be a good one,” Tomlin said. “And I thought he did an awesome job.”
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