Foswhitt Whittaker, RB

03/19/2012 - When their father died, the young Whittaker brothers looked for clarity in their church. They listened for messages of hope at Berean Missionary Baptist, for words of calm in a time of chaos amplified. They needed to know that they and their mother would be fine in the years ahead. Foswhitt was 3 at the time, the youngest of three sons Foster and Gloria Whittaker were raising in Houston. He was the one destined to be a running back at the University of Texas, to play a senior season of great promise until Nov. 12, when he tried to plant his right leg and, instead, felt his knee shift like a tire sliding on ice. His college career ended with two torn ligaments that cloudy afternoon in Columbia, Mo. And a search for clarity resumed. Whittaker wanted - no, still wants - to play in the NFL. But he missed the last four games of 2011. He had surgery in January, and though he could participate only in one physical test - the bench press - he was asked to come to the NFL combine in February. Whittaker took the invitation as a gesture of respect for what he did on the football field before he shredded his knee. He met a battery of doctors that week in Indianapolis. He did a lot of watching. He wanted to get out there and run and jump and drill with the rest of the players. All he could do was imagine running and jumping and drilling. "I do catch myself daydreaming," Whittaker said last week, when he wore a 10-pound ankle weight to a 50-minute interview. "What might have happened? But, you know, in the end, it's not reality. I tend not to think about it that much and focus on what I can do now, rather than what I can't do." - Kevin Robbins, The Austin American-Statesman

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