CloakNNNdagger
06-04-2011, 04:35 PM
It took the NEW YORK TIMES, Mr. McClain, to let us in on his "other talents."
The Poet (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/sports/football/as-the-nfl-labor-dispute-goes-on-some-are-looking-past-football.html)
While Kroul farms, Arian Foster writes. A self-described dreamer and “author of my own biography,” he composes poems and short stories, and music. He often writes about himself, but in vague terms, so “people can adapt and relate to what I’m writing.”
To his football peers, Foster’s story of lockout life rings familiar. He was an undrafted free agent, then led the N.F.L. in rushing last season for Houston, positioning himself for a raise from the league minimum. Then the owners locked out the players in March.
Yet Foster took a philosophical approach to the unfortunate timing. Among his writing samples, he included this: “I think the rain is unbiased, and the recipient of this downfall has the option to accept this, or yell at the clouds his whole life.”
An old soul, Foster began writing during childhood. Even now, the space beneath his bed is filled with notebooks. He took inspiration from his father, Carl, once a football player at New Mexico, who taught his son to question and to learn, who pushed him anywhere but into football. When Foster says, “I love the imperfections of the universe,” or “everything on this earth has a vibration,” that is his parents’ influence.
Foster is also wary of being pigeonholed as a football player, or a poet, or a football player who writes poetry. He is, he insisted, quite normal, at once all and none of the above.
“Don’t make me out to be a philosopher sitting under an oak tree,” said Foster, who is living and training in Houston. “I like video games. I like clowning around.
“When someone says I’m well-spoken, or articulate, for a football player, I hate that.”
This time last year, Foster said, he sensed a monster season on the horizon. He feels for the college players this year who went undrafted, who wait in limbo. He called the labor situation “unsettling, a little nerve-racking.” But it does allow him more time to write.
The Poet (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/sports/football/as-the-nfl-labor-dispute-goes-on-some-are-looking-past-football.html)
While Kroul farms, Arian Foster writes. A self-described dreamer and “author of my own biography,” he composes poems and short stories, and music. He often writes about himself, but in vague terms, so “people can adapt and relate to what I’m writing.”
To his football peers, Foster’s story of lockout life rings familiar. He was an undrafted free agent, then led the N.F.L. in rushing last season for Houston, positioning himself for a raise from the league minimum. Then the owners locked out the players in March.
Yet Foster took a philosophical approach to the unfortunate timing. Among his writing samples, he included this: “I think the rain is unbiased, and the recipient of this downfall has the option to accept this, or yell at the clouds his whole life.”
An old soul, Foster began writing during childhood. Even now, the space beneath his bed is filled with notebooks. He took inspiration from his father, Carl, once a football player at New Mexico, who taught his son to question and to learn, who pushed him anywhere but into football. When Foster says, “I love the imperfections of the universe,” or “everything on this earth has a vibration,” that is his parents’ influence.
Foster is also wary of being pigeonholed as a football player, or a poet, or a football player who writes poetry. He is, he insisted, quite normal, at once all and none of the above.
“Don’t make me out to be a philosopher sitting under an oak tree,” said Foster, who is living and training in Houston. “I like video games. I like clowning around.
“When someone says I’m well-spoken, or articulate, for a football player, I hate that.”
This time last year, Foster said, he sensed a monster season on the horizon. He feels for the college players this year who went undrafted, who wait in limbo. He called the labor situation “unsettling, a little nerve-racking.” But it does allow him more time to write.