Arian Foster Considered Retirement After Last Year’s Back Injury

Texans RB Arian Foster mentioned in an interview with Hannah Storm of ESPN that he contemplated retirement after he suffered a back injury last season.

“Any time an athlete goes through an injury like that — a back, a neck, even knees or hips, something that puts you out for the entire season — you kind of re-evaluate your life,” Foster said. “You see what’s really important. Is getting paralyzed more important than playing with your grand kids when you’re 50, 60 years old. People die on the football field. This is a really brutal sport. Going through an injury like that, being 27 years old, I’m young, still I’m at the prime of my career. Is it worth it to try to come back?”

Foster said that he tried to continue to play through the injury, but couldn’t lift his knees on the next play.

“Initially when it happened, you know it wasn’t just a regular injury that you play through,” Foster said. “It happened just like on a simple routine. I cut and I just felt like my back, this little slip. It was awkward. I tried to play the next play with it too, but I couldn’t even lift my knees.”

Foster, 27, still has three years remaining on his five-year, $43.5 million contract that included $20.75 million guaranteed. He’ll make $5.75 million for the upcoming season and his base salaries will later increase to $6 million in 2015 and another $6.5 million in 2016.

Last year, Foster was limited to appearing in just eight games due to the back injury. He ran for 542 yards on 121 carries (4.5 YPC) and scored two total touchdowns.

Houston will need him to stay healthy this season as they lost Ben Tate in free agency. Andre Brown was brought in to help carry the load, so we’ll have to see how he looks during the preseason.