Mason Foster's first year in the NFL

Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris did not want to put too much pressure on Mason Foster in the beginning of his career, but Morris quickly found out that Foster was able to endure it. “In the beginning, I was trying to take stuff off his plate to ease it for him; to slow it down for him. And he's embracing a bigger role than I even anticipated, and it's been beautiful,” said Morris to Tampabay.com.

In the third game of the Buccaneers season Foster had to be the defensive play caller instead of Quincy Black, who was out of the game because of injury. “This is a kid who’s been put in a man’s role and he’s done an exceptional job. He’s in there every week now calling the defenses and changing defenses and he’s really become the quarterback there,” Morris said to aol.sportingnews.com.

Then in the last game the Buccaneers won this season, Foster injured his ankle, which made him have trouble playing as well as he had done earlier. “He hit a little bit of a rookie wall. Got a little tired there. Got a little fatigued. You know, everything started to ache. Everything started to battle,” said Morris to joebucsfan.com.

After Foster overcame his ankle injury, he picked up his excellent play, ending the season with 84 tackles, two sacks, and one forced fumble. “Now he’s starting to come back around, starting to play fast, starting to play physical. He’s done this all year, so he’s one of those guys that’s going to grow into his body and become that natural mike [linebacker],” Morris said.

The beginning of Mason Foster's career

Rookie linebacker Mason Foster was chosen by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 3rd round of the draft. With his 41 tackles, Foster is showing a lot of promise.

Barret Ruud, the previous linebacker for the Buccaneers, had the experience and knew how to play the game, but what he missed was the violence and toughness that is needed for good linebacker play. That’s what Foster has.

Already in the preseason, Foster got his first fine. He got it because of a dangerous tackle on Chad Ochocinco. The fine was on $20,000, however Ochocinco offered to pay it because he thought that the tackle wasn’t dangerous, but the way that the game is meant to be played. "Great hit last night, if u're fined I'll reimburse u boss. That's the way the game should b played. Stay healthy n have a good yr," wrote Ochocinco on Twitter.

The accident isn’t going to change the way that Foster plays. "The only way I know how to play is like that. If they're going to fine people, I can deal with it. But my objective is to play hard as I can," Foster said.

In the third game that the Buccaneers played in this season, Quincy Black, the Buccaneers captain of the defense, was out of the game because of an injury, therefore Foster got the transmitter, which is used for calling out what is happening in the game to the other team players, that ended with him getting 10 tackles, 1 sack and a forced fumble in that game. "It felt pretty natural. I've played linebacker my whole life. So getting the calls and making all the checks, we've got other linebackers out there, too. It's not just me. It's the whole defense. You've got Geno Hayes, Sean Jones, so they helped me out a lot. But it felt good to be out there in charge of the defense," he said.

The next Buccaneers game Foster is also going to have the transmitter. “In the beginning, I was trying to take stuff off his plate to ease it for him; to slow it down for him. And he's embracing a bigger role than I even anticipated, and it's been beautiful,” said coach Raheem Morris. Foster has proven that the Buccaneers made a good draft choice.