Release Still Gnaws At Foreman - Texans

Aug. 18, 2005, 10:56PM

TEXANS SPOTLIGHT
Release still gnaws at Foreman
Now a Raider, ex-Texans LB says he saw end coming
By JOSEPH DUARTE
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle



Jay Foreman has moved on, but he hasn't quite forgotten what unfolded this offseason at Reliant Park.

In the span of three months, Foreman went from three-year starter at inside linebacker for the Texans to unemployed. All the while he trying to recover from a sprained left ankle that caused him to miss the final month of the season.

Foreman has found a new home with the Oakland Raiders.

The ankle has since healed, but the same can't be said for his feelings after what he described Thursday as the "thrown under the bus" treatment that eventually led to his release as part of the Texans' defensive makeover in mid-March.

"I know this is a business and stuff like that happens, but there's a certain way to conduct business," Foreman said after a morning workout between the Raiders and Texans.

'I knew it was coming'
At the time of his release, Foreman admitted being "blindsided" by the Texans' change in direction that also ended with the release of veterans Jamie Sharper, Aaron Glenn and Eric Brown. But he said there were warning signs long before.

"I knew it was coming," said Foreman, who led the Texans in tackles during their inaugural season in 2002. "I knew what they were doing before they even did it. When I realized what was going on, I wanted to finish out the season good so I could go somewhere else and continue playing and get paid. Except I got hurt. The thing that bothered me was I got hurt for the first time and you get thrown under the bus."

Foreman had an idea his tenure with the Texans might be cut short even after signing a five-year deal to remain with the team after the 2002 season.

Last year, the Texans experimented with Kailee Wong playing at inside linebacker during the preseason and in some practices, saying it was a precautionary move in case either Foreman or Sharper got hurt. When Foreman went down with a high ankle sprain in early December against the New York Jets, Da- Shon Polk, not Wong, moved into his starting spot at strong-side linebacker.

Wong met with the Texans' coaching staff over the offseason to discuss a move inside, where he is projected to start this season.

Not long after, the Texans signed free-agent Morlon Greenwood to a five-year deal worth $22.5 million to play Sharper's spot on the weak side.

Within a few weeks, Sharper and Foreman had been given permission to seek trades. Eventually, both were released.

"I knew two years ago when I signed what was going to happen," Foreman said. "They wanted to do that from the start.

"They were making excuses. You're here three years and don't win and stuff like that ... they have to do stuff to try and make it look like they are going in the right direction."

With the departure of Sharper and Foreman, three of the four starting spots in the Texans' linebacker corps will feature a different player either at a new position (Wong and outside linebacker Antwan Peek) or who wasn't with the team a year ago (Greenwood).

"You can't count on both hands that many linebackers that are better than me," said Foreman, who signed with Oakland a month after being released and is listed second on the depth chart behind Danny Clark at inside linebacker. "I really don't care. It's their opinion what they wanted to do. It was already done before it even happened."

Strictly business
Texans general manager Charley Casserly praised Foreman and said the offseason move was a business decision.

"Jay did a nice job for us," Casserly said. "You can't keep everybody in this system. He got hurt at the end of last year. So we decided to move on, and that's it."

And that's where Foreman has a problem. He played in 42 straight games for the Texans before missing a Nov. 28 game against Tennessee with a neck injury.

"When you get hurt and have surgery and get thrown under the bus a little bit," he said, "you're not hurt, you just get upset."

As Foreman walked off the field, he exchanged greetings with several former teammates and wished them well.

"He did a lot more than he had to do for this team," Texans quarterback David Carr said. "He went out and sacrificed on the field."


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/3317036

This makes me wonder if the Texans "Good Guy" image they are trying to give to this Franchise is fake , or that Foreman is just putting too much into it and maybe some hurt feelings involved .