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Foster helps Polk despite bad break

By: Ward Gossett
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Derrick Davis

BENTON, Tenn. — Serge Foster suffered a spiral fracture in his left leg just below the knee last spring in a scrimmage against Bradley Central.

He underwent seven surgeries in a three-week span. Doctors talked of amputation, and Foster has been told at one time or another that his football career might be over and that he might never walk without a cane or a crutch, much less run like the tailback he was set to be this year for Polk County.

“I thought and the doctors thought at first that it was a minor break,” he said. “In the first surgery they found out it was a spiral fracture, which is one of the worst breaks you can have.”

To date he has had 13 operations and is looking at two more at least. Then surgeons may have to do a tendon transplant in his heel, where he has lost feeling and range of motion for his ankle.

Yet it could have been worse for a guy whose only knowledge of his birth parents is their first names: Eduardo and Tatiana. He could have broken the leg in his native Russia, where he lived as an orphan until he was adopted as a 6-year-old by Dorothy Foster, daughter of the late Bill Foster, a well-known Cleveland businessman.

“Serge was going to be our primary running back. He would have been the deep man on kickoff returns, and he would have been doing our kickoffs and extra points,” Polk County coach Derrick Davis said. “He was one of the fastest kids we’ve had since I’ve been here.

“But more than that, Serge underwent a major transformation — a 180 — in the time he has been here. He decided to do the right things like behaving in class. He was one I was once ready to run off, and now he’s one of my favorites.”

Foster, whose adoptive mom is forced to work through the State Department to try to get him a driver’s license because he has no birth certificate, won’t be on the field this year with the Wildcats. That doesn’t mean he won’t be a Wildcat.

“He still comes to practice when he isn’t in the hospital or at a doctor’s appointment. He’ll have his jersey (No. 29) and he’ll go to games with us,” Davis said. “A highlight of my coaching career will be when he comes back and puts on the pads.”

Foster has become an inspiration and a rallying point for this year’s team.

“He’s an inspiration to me and his teammates,” Davis said. “We get out there and it’s hot and we’re tired and some of us might be ready to give up, and all I have to say is, ‘I bet Serge wishes he could be out here.’ The guys immediately pick it up.

“It is heartbreaking, but you see how he is taking it and that he is handling it better that we are. If he didn’t have a great mindset, this could have been a life-altering injury, and I can’t help but be positive because he is so positive. That may be why the attitude of this year’s team has been exceptional. Maybe these guys see what could be taken away from them in one play. Who knows? But I’m sure Serge would be happy if that’s the case, because he’s that kind of guy.”

One of his players told Davis that this wasn’t supposed to happen to Foster, referring to Foster’s turnaround and how far he had progressed as both a player and as a person.

“He was talking about how Serge had gone from not wanting to work to being a model,” Davis said. “Serge is making the best of what has happened.”

He has his good days and then those that aren’t so good, even though he is working with younger players in the weight room. Davis has even caught him trying to gather up tackling dummies on the field, even though Foster is hampered by the brace on his leg and his crutches.

“It’s getting harder to come to practice, but I love the guys and I love hanging out with them. I want to support them as much as I can,” he said. “For two years I had been looking forward to playing varsity and getting on the field. Now I’ll just have to try and help this team in other ways.”

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