From rock bottom to top of NFL world: How Chris Foerster got his life, career back
We throw around words like redemption and perseverance and sacrifice so frequently in sports, they sometimes lose their meaning.
Then a story like Chris Foerster comes along. And the words fit perfectly.
Foerster endured one of the greatest personal embarrassments conceivable as a member of the Dolphins’ coaching staff in 2017 — an unforced error that exposed a dark secret he wanted no one to know.
He was a drug addict, and did drugs in his Miami Dolphins office.
Compounding his mistakes, he video recorded himself doing lines of what appeared to be cocaine and shared it with an adult entertainer he met a few weeks prior in Los Angeles.
When their relationship went sideways, she posted the video to social media.
His job, lost. His life, ruined.
Foerster immediately became the world’s most infamous offensive line coach.
Two and a half largely anonymous years later, his focus returns to South Florida, working as a game-planning consultant for the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers ahead of Super Bowl 54. And those who know him best insist he’s a completely changed person — for the better.
“It was important to me because I knew him before he went through some tough times,” said Niners coach Kyle Shanahan, the man responsible for throwing Foerster’s career a lifeline. “I knew the man he was. I spent four years with him [in Washington] before he had gone through some of this, before he started this problem.
“I kept in touch with him through it all. I knew after it happened, what it did to him, what it did to his family,” Shanahan continued. “I know what he’s been through to try to get right. I don’t think that takes anything back that he has done. But I know the person he was before I know the person he’s trying to become. He’s a very good coach. I think he is really trying to make it right. I felt proud to give him another chance, because I think he’s done the right things. I know he’s doing everything he can to continue to prove himself.”
Since Foerster is technically not a coach, he has been under no obligation to speak to reporters here this week. Understandably, he has kept a low profile.
But that shouldn’t be taken as a sign that he has hid from his problems. Rather, friends and colleagues say, he’s addressed them head-on.
After the tape leaked, he checked into a West Palm rehab facility, Foerster told NFL.com in early 2018. He long had a drinking problem, he said in the piece, but hard drugs were a relatively newer development. The husband and father of three ultimately lost control.
He’s back in control now, Niners officials insist.
So much so that Shanahan was confident about hiring him as a consultant before the 2019 season.
He doesn’t do on-field coaching, but instead helps Shanahan craft the week’s game-plan from an office.
“He’s around the building and helps bounce around different ideas,” said 49ers offensive lineman Joe Staley, who has known Foerster for more than a decade. “He’s been instrumental in kind of developing this offense with Kyle early on. He’s knowledgeable a great resource to talk to.”
Staley added: ““He’s one of my favorite guys. He definitely went through a very public thing that was hard for him. But to his credit, he’s completely cleaned up. He’s an unbelievable person. I’ve always had nothing but great things to say about coach Foerster and the person he is. Hard to go through something public like that, but he handled it as well as he could. He’s a great guy. I have nothing but positive stories about him as a coach and a player.”
One resource in his mission to stay clean: 49ers run game coordinator Mike McDaniel, who also has battled addiction.
McDaniel doesn’t pretend that he’s the only reason Foerster has gotten his life back on track, but he said late Wednesday afternoon “I definitely opened myself up with some of the things I’ve gone through.”
McDaniel added: “I think Chris Foerster is a great example of a person who doesn’t take anything for granted. He works day in and day out to get his life and his family’s life in the direction that kind of veered off course for a minute. Everyday he’s diligently working. I think there’s a lot of people that day in, day out, he makes very proud because he didn’t run from his mistakes. He hit it head on and attacked it. He’s leading a healthy life and he’s much happier as a result of it.”
Does Shanahan see a healthier person?
“There’s no doubt,” he said. “Sometimes you’ve got to hit rock bottom. I think he was floating around that for a few years. I hadn’t seen him since I was in Washington, which was a total of about four years. But after talking with him, I know he had to go to rehab and go through a lot of counseling. I think it brought out a lot of things for him that he hadn’t dealt with in his life that he unfortunately he had to hurt some people to get there, but when it was all said and done, even though it was a hard way to get there, I do believe he’s a better man now. I think his wife and kids would say the same thing, and that’s a guy I want to help out.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 7:46 PM.
