Mason Foster

Mason Foster (born March 1, 1989) is an American football linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Buccaneers in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Washington.

High school career
Foster played at Seaside High School, leading them to a 12-1 overall record, a 5-0 league record, a Monterey Bay league title and the CIF Central Coast Section small school championship in 2006. Foster led a defense that allowed just six points per game during the regular season and recorded four shutouts, as well as taking over at quarterback midway through the season. Foster was named the Monterey County player of the year by the Monterey Herald, defensive player of the year by the Salinas Californian, an All-Central Coast Section first-team linebacker by the San Jose Mercury News, and CalHiSports all-state first team for 2006. He was ranked the No. 68 linebacker recruit in the country by Rivals.com.

2007
As a true freshman, Foster played in all 13 games, starting four games including three at weakside linebacker and one at middle linebacker.

2008
Started all 12 at one outside linebacker spot, leading the Pac-10 Conference in tackles per game with 8.75 and topped the Washington's team with 12.0 tackles for loss. Foster earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 as well as being named the Huskies' team MVP (Defense).

2009
Started all 12 of the Huskies' games at one linebacker spot, finishing second on the team with 85 total tackles while leading the Pac-10 with six forced fumbles. Named honorable mention All-Pac-10 as well as The Sporting News' All-Pac-10 first team.

2010
Started all 13 of the Huskies' games at linebacker, recording 162 tackles (12.46/gm) finishing second in FBS. Foster was named an All-American. Earned Defensive MVP honors for the 2011 Holiday Bowl in a win over Nebraska. Was invited to, and played in the 2011 Senior Bowl.

Pre-draft
In the months leading up to the 2011 NFL Draft, Foster was considered one of the top linebackers and was expected to be selected in the 3rd or 4th round. After the Senior Bowl, analysts were in agreement that he had in fact improved his draft stock with many saying he could go as high as the late second round. Foster continued to impress at the NFL Scouting Combine where he performed very well in the on-field drills.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Foster was selected in the 3rd round (84th overall) by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2011 NFL Draft. He was fined $20,000 for a hit on Chad Ochocinco following the second preseason game. Ochocinco offered to pay the fine for him, as he disagreed with the league's decision, but the league stated that he would not be able to. Foster began his rookie season as the Buccaneers' starting middle linebacker.