Arian Foster

His parents divorced in 2000 while he was attending Valley High School in Albuquerque, and in 2002, he moved to San Diego with his father. Foster competed in football at Mission Bay Senior High School, where he initially played as a linebacker, but became a full-time running back in his junior and senior years. He was Mission Bay's featured running back those years, and led San Diego County in all-purpose yards with 2,500 while compiling 2,093 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns in addition to six scores on kickoff returns his senior year. In a game against Clairemont High School, Foster ran for 321 yards and for his efforts, he was named San Diego Union Tribune All-San Diego Western League Player of the Year, received All-West Region appointment by PrepStar, and also earned All-California Interscholastic Federation honors. He earned a three-star rating from Rivals.com. Then-Tennessee offensive coordinator Randy Sanders and running backs coach Trooper Taylor were impressed by Foster when recruiting in San Diego. Foster committed to attend Tennessee on January 28, 2004.

Foster returned in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins, but after carrying the ball ten times for 33 rushing yards in the first half, he missed the remainder of the game due to a re-aggravation of his hamstring. Foster missed Houston's Week 3 game on the road against the New Orleans Saints, but returned to face the Pittsburgh Steelers the following Sunday. Against Pittsburgh, Foster ran the ball 30 times for 155 yards, including a 42-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run that proved to be the winning points in the Texans' 17–10 victory. In what was his tenth career 100-yard game, Foster's total of 155 yards was the second-most by a running back against the Steelers defense since 2001, and the most since Curtis Martin tallied 174 yards against the Steelers on December 14, 2003. Additionally, his 42-yard touchdown was the longest scoring run allowed by the Steelers since 2006. The Texans squared off with the Oakland Raiders at home in Week 5. Foster had a tough time generating yards on the ground, tallying just 68 yards on 22 carries. It was as a pass-catcher that Foster shone against Oakland, catching just five passes for 116 yards, including a career-long 60-yard reception in the third quarter. A last-minute rally by Houston fell short when quarterback Matt Schaub was intercepted in the end zone as Houston fell, 25–20. In Week 6, the Baltimore Ravens' stout defense proved a challenge for Foster as he was limited to just 49 yards on 15 carries in a decisive 29–14 loss. Foster continued to contribute in the passing game catching six passes for 52 yards in the losing effort. Foster exploded in Week 7 against the Tennessee Titans, rushing for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries while accumulating 119 yards receiving and another touchdown on five catches. This helped the Texans en route to a 41–7 victory over their division foe and established them as the division leader. Foster followed up his career-day against the Titans with a solid performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In a tough, ball-control type of game, Foster equaled his career-high in rushing attempts with 33, totaling 112 yards on the ground. In contrast to Foster's prolific pass-catching in recent weeks, the Jaguars limited Foster to just one catch for 12 yards out of the backfield in Houston's 24–14 victory. On December 22, he had 158 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 19–16 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 16. Overall, he finished the 2011 season with 278 carries for 1,224 rushing yards and ten rushing touchdowns to go along with 53 receptions for 617 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.

In his 2005 freshman season, Foster was an immediate contributor. He took on a heavier responsibility in the running game later in the season. Foster made his collegiate debut on September 3 against Alabama-Birmingham. In the 17–10 victory, he had five carries for 23 rushing yards. On October 1, in a home game against the Ole Miss Rebels, he had his first collegiate touchdown on a one-yard run late in the fourth quarter of the 27–10 victory. On October 22, in a game against #5 Alabama, Riggs suffered a season-ending injury, putting more rushing opportunities onto Foster. On October 29, in a home game against the South Carolina Gamecocks, he had 25 carries for 148 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the narrow 16–15 loss. On November 5, in a road game against the #8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, he had 28 carries for 125 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 41–21 loss. In the following game against the Memphis Tigers, he had 28 carries for 132 rushing yards in the 20–16 victory at home. In the next game, he had a commanding performance in a 28–24 loss against the Vanderbilt Commodores. He had 40 carries, scored two touchdowns, and his total of 268 all-purpose yards was the third-highest total in school history. In the regular season finale in a road game against the Kentucky Wildcats, he had 114 rushing yards and 44 receiving yards in the 27–8 victory. Overall, in the 2005 season, he finished as the team's leading rusher with 879 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns, 14 receptions, and 148 receiving yards.

Foster's subpar senior campaign caused his draft stock to plummet, as well as scouts' concerns about his below-average pass-blocking, issues with ball security, character issues (partly due to his earlier arrest) and the less-than-stellar reviews from Tennessee staff members that portrayed him as selfish and hard to coach. Foster ranked 24th among running backs available in the 2009 NFL Draft, according to Sports Illustrated. A pulled hamstring prevented Foster from working out at the NFL Scouting Combine, and he had a poor showing at Tennessee's Pro Day when he registered a 4.65 40-yard dash, 4.50 short shuttle, vertical leap and 9′7″ broad jump. The combination of factors led to Foster being undrafted at the 2009 NFL Draft; after several teams showed interest in him as a rookie free agent, he chose to sign a contract with the Houston Texans in May 2009 because he thought the situation suited him.

Foster was signed by the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent on May 1, 2009. He was released by the team on September 5, 2009, but was later signed to the Texans' practice squad on September 6 and signed to the active roster on November 17. Foster made his NFL debut against the Tennessee Titans on November 23, 2009, but recorded no offensive statistics in the 20–17 loss. In Week 16, he scored his first NFL career touchdown against the Miami Dolphins in Miami on December 27, 2009, on a 17-yard run up the middle in the second quarter of the 27–20 victory. Foster made his first career start against the New England Patriots in the regular season finale on January 3, 2010, and ran for 119 yards and scored twice on 20 carries in the 34–27 victory.

Before the 2010 season, Foster changed his number from #37 to #23. In the 2010 season opener on September 12, Houston played against the Indianapolis Colts. Foster replaced Steve Slaton, the starting running back in the 2009 season, and broke many franchise records, rushing 33 times for 231 yards and three touchdowns in the 34–24 victory. In addition to breaking the franchise record for the most rushing yards in a single game, he and Slaton combined for 260 rushing yards, well over the team record for most total in a game, and also the most rushing yards given up to a single player by the Indianapolis Colts. Foster posted the second-highest NFL opening day rushing total, trailing only O.J. Simpson's 250 yards against the New England Patriots in 1973. In Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys, he had 17 carries for 106 rushing yards in the 27–13 loss. In Week 4, against the Oakland Raiders after being benched for the first quarter, Foster recorded the longest run in Texans franchise history when he scored on a 74-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to break a 14–14 tie. Houston went on to win 31–24 behind Foster's 187 yards from scrimmage. In Week 6, against the Kansas City Chiefs, he had 18 carries for 71 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 35–31 victory. In Week 8, against the Indianapolis Colts, he had 15 carries for 102 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in the 30–17 loss. He followed that up with 27 carries for 127 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 29–23 loss to the San Diego Chargers. In Week 11 against the New York Jets, he had 84 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 30–27 loss. In the next game, against the Tennessee Titans, he had 30 carries for 143 rushing yards in the 20–0 victory. In Week 13 against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had 83 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with a receiving touchdown in the 34–24 loss. In Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens, he had 20 carries for 100 rushing yards in the 34–28 loss.

On March 5, the Texans reportedly reached a deal with Foster, deciding he was worth up to $43.5 million over five years. The contract included $20.75 million guaranteed, $30 million in his first three years, and $18 million in 2012.

Sporting News called Foster "the most interesting man in the NFL". He became a vegan in July 2012. Though this did not last very long, his diet was a very interesting subject to the media for a period of time. Regarding his diet, he said: "I just like to eat healthy, man. That whole vegan thing, a lot of people are really interested in my food... I've had meat since I've said I don't eat meat anymore. I like to stay with the plant-based foods, but every now and then, I'll eat meat."

Foster revealed his political affiliation during an NFL game, stating he is "in the Green Party", and he voted for Ron Paul, who ran as a Republican in the 2012 Presidential election.

Foster had surgery on a bulging disk in his back on November 13, 2013, in Los Angeles. Foster tried to play through the injury in the second divisional game against the Indianapolis Colts, the day he injured his back, and then tried to avoid surgery, but, after speaking with multiple doctors and specialists, Dr. Watkins included, he decided to undergo surgery. Foster made it his goal after this devastating injury and surgery to enter the 2014 season as a healthy contributor to the Texans.

After getting injured in the 2013 season, Foster joined the cast of the movie Draft Day, to play a running back getting drafted into the NFL. The film came out in April 2014. Foster has not ruled out the possibility of partaking in an acting job once again if it does not interrupt his career as an athlete in any way. In an interview on the subject he stated, "I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences in the film industry thus far. So I don't see why, if an opportunity presents itself again, I wouldn't jump on it, but it won't get in the way of my football career because that's first and foremost. That was my dream since I was seven years old."

In the 2014 season opener, a 17–6 win over the Washington Redskins, Foster had 103 rushing yards on 27 carries. In the following game against the Oakland Raiders, he had 28 carries for 138 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 30–14 victory. On October 5, against the Dallas Cowboys, he had 23 carries for 157 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 20–17 loss in Week 5. In the next game, against the Indianapolis Colts, he had 20 carries for 109 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 33–28 loss. He had 20 carries for 102 rushing yards in the following game, a 30–23 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He recorded his fourth consecutive 100-yard game with 151 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns against the Tennessee Titans. In addition, he had a receiving touchdown in the 30–16 victory. On December 7, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had 24 carries for 127 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 27–13 victory in Week 14. Foster had a solid comeback season after returning from his back injury, rushing for 1,246 yards and eight touchdowns while having 38 receptions for 327 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. For the fourth season in his career, Foster rushed for at least 1,000 yards. With that accomplishment, Foster was voted to the 2015 Pro Bowl, his fourth such nomination in his NFL career. He was named the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week for his Week 8 performance (151 rushing yards and two touchdowns) against the Tennessee Titans. He was ranked 80th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2015.

Foster started the 2015 season injured and did not play until Week 4 against the Atlanta Falcons, where he had eight carries for ten yards and three receptions for 25 receiving yards in the 48–21 loss. In the next game, against the Indianapolis Colts, he had 41 rushing yards, nine receptions, and 77 receiving yards in the 27–20 loss. In the following game, he had his first touchdown of the season on a 14-yard reception from Brian Hoyer against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 31–20 victory. Foster ruptured his Achilles tendon on October 25, 2015, in a Week 7 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Before exiting, he had 59 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, five receptions, 66 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown in the game. Two days later, Foster was placed on injured reserve, effectively ending his season.

In 2015, Foster was one of the narrators for the documentary film Unity. On March 8, 2017, Foster appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast the Joe Rogan Experience #928. He responded to comments he made on Twitter about being able to kill a wolf, and discussed his interest in physics, astronomy, artistic endeavors, and his uncensored take on the NCAA and the NFL. Foster also made a guest appearance on the YouTube podcast Painkiller Already (PKA) during which he gave his opinions on the NFL's battle with CTE and continued with his ideas on killing a wolf. He also told his struggles with dealing with instantaneous fame of college football.

Foster was released by the Texans on March 3, 2016. He finished his Texans career with 6,472 yards and 54 rushing touchdowns, both franchise records.

On July 18, 2016, Foster signed a one-year contract with the Miami Dolphins. Foster wore #34 during the preseason, but would later change it to #29 before the regular season started. He rushed for 55 yards in four games before suffering another lower body injury.

On October 24, 2016, one day after rushing for five yards on three carries in Week 7 against the Buffalo Bills, Foster announced his retirement from the NFL.

Foster started his own podcast, Now What? with Arian Foster, in fall 2017. The podcast (also available on YouTube) features Foster conversing with guests on a wide range of topics "from current events to unexplored regions of our universe."

In 2018, Foster appeared on the MTV series The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars as a contestant raising money for his charity the Arian Foster Foundation.

On April 26, 2018, Foster released his debut rap album Flamingo & Koval under the stage name Bobby Feeno on Tidal. The title is named after the intersection at which rapper 2Pac was shot. The album was recorded under LeBron James record label Uninterrupted. His introduction into the music industry was documented in the docuseries Becoming Bobby Feeno which was produced by Foster, James, Maverick Carter, and Humble Lukanga.