Sport: Football
Born: March 20, 1942
Town: Pennsville, New Jersey
Irving Eugene Foster was born March 20, 1942 in Salem, NJ and grew up in Pennsville Township. Solidly built and lightning-fast, Gene excelled in a number of sports but football was his go-to game. He starred for the Pennsville Memorial Eagles and was the best player since Norm “Wild Man” Willey, a defensive star for the NFL Eagles.
Gene drew interest from a number of top-flight football programs and accepted a scholarship from Arizona State in 1961. Frank Kush coached the Sun Devils, who were founding members of the Western Athletic Conference during Gene’s first varsity season. The team featured fellow New Jerseyan Ben Hawkins, future NFL All-Pro Charley Taylor and Tony Lorick, a two-way star in college who would become one of the better blocking backs in the league. Arizona State went 7–2–1 and finished the 1962 season ranked in the Top 20.
Gene shared the backfield with Lorick again in 1963, when the team won the WAC championship and was ranked #13 in the nation. Their only loss came on opening day against Wichita State. The team’s November 23 home game against Idaho was cancelled after the assassination of President Kennedy. As a senior in 1964, Gene led the Sun Devils in rushing and teamed with running back Larry Todd to give Kush a good one-two punch. A loss to rival Arizona in the final game deprived them of a Top 20 ranking.
Following an appearance in the East-West Shrine Game on Christmas day, Gene prepared himself for a pro career. He was a target in both the NFL and AFL drafts. The Cowboys and Chargers both made him a late-round pick and he signed with San Diego. The pass-oriented team featured receivers Lance Alworth, Gary Garrison and Jacque MacKinnon, a former high-school star from North Jersey.
Gene was the fastest back on the team and saw lots of action backing up Paul Lowe and Keith Lincoln. He was second on the Chargers with 469 rushing yards. He also caught 17 passes for 199 yards. At 6’0 and 210 pounds, he was a handful.
Late in the season, Lincoln injured his knee, dampening the teams chances for an AFL title. When the do-it-all fullback was slow to recover, coach Sid Gillman anointed Gene the starter for the championship game against the Buffalo Bills. The Chargers were looking for a little revenger, as the Bills had defeated them 20–7 in the 1964 AFL Championship. The Bills were hoping to improve on their two meetings with San Diego during the 1965 regular season, losing once, 34–3, and playing to a 20-20 tie. The Chargers lost again, this time, 23–0. Gene carried the ball four times for 16 yards and caught a pass from John Hadl.
In 1966, Gene split the starts at fullback with Lincoln and was second on the team in rushing again. The Chargers had an off year, struggling to won more than half of their games. Over the next few seasons, Gene was in and out of the lineup with a variety injuries. His best year was 1968, when he ran for 394 yards and caught 23 passes in 10 games. During these years, the Chargers had lots of talent on the roster, but it did not always translate into wins. In 1967 and 1968, they had future Hall of Fame guard on the roster and barely played him. It was Gene who nicknamed him “Chicken Little” after watching him consume two half chickens in a matter of minutes one night.
In 1969, Gene and several teammates recorded an album of Christmas songs. In 1970, he threw his one and only NFL touchdown pass, a 10-yard scoring play that helped the Chargers beat the Giants, 30–27.
Gene attended training camp with the Chargers in 1971 but did not make the team. The Falcons gave him a shot but he didn’t impress the Atlanta coaching staff and he was released. Gene’s NFL career concluded with 1,613 rushing yards, 99 receptions and seven touchdowns in 68 games over six seasons.
A week after being cut by the Falcons, Gene caught on with the Edmonton Eskimos near the tail-end of the Canadian Football League season. In 1972, he teamed with Roy Bell in the Edmonton backfield and helped the club go 10–6 and make the playoffs. A case of pneumonia kept Gene out of the lineup for part of 1973, but he still put up 678 yards on a career-high 135 carries. He also caught 26 passes that year.
In 1974, Gene was traded to Ottawa. He went on the injured list after a couple of games and the team cut him midway through the season. Gene’s CFL rushing stats added more than 1,500 yards to his résumé.
In 2009, Gene was inducted into Pennsville Memorial’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Salem County Sports Hall of Fame.