In Memoriam of Semaj Foster
Brave, humble, kind, what can I say about Semaj, when I met him for the first time he was 9 years old, brought to the field by our common friend and now family Clint Washington, Semaj was a sight to behold, one of the biggest kids on the field and definitely the biggest in our team, strong, determined, with a smile that reflected the candor of his soul and a disposition to learn and become the best he could be. He wanted to join the Sharks, the San Antonio Sharks which was my team at the time. He gave his all to the team, became our NT anchoring our defense and quickly carving a name for himself on the city, teams always came with a plan to control Semaj, and every time that plan blew up in their faces, he was not to be denied, with this sense of humor and funny style, I remember him yelling "You shall not pass", while stopping and pushing back a big FB on a goal line stand.
Semaj became good friends with my son and other kids on the team and he would regularly join us on pool and pizza parties, birthdays, sleepovers, and as many occasions as he could. I remember one time when we were coming back from practice and Semaj was coming to stay at the house for a sleepover there was an armadillo crossing the street, I stopped the car and we all were looking at this cool piggy crossing the street, he was in awe, my son said something like, "My dad is cool like that", when he still thought I was cool..., I felt great for them and for me.
One of the last times we had the pleasure to interact with Semaj was when we took him to practice at a batting cage, we were trying baseball and although he was not interested, he came with us to try, we had a good time. Amazing kid, we knew he was going through hardship and he never had anything negative to say and his attitude was always great, a testament to his grandparents whom which he spent most of his time. We lost the close contact with Semaj a couple years after, his family moved to a county far from our place and he joined the school team. He would still call me to say hi, and I would also call his grandparents and try to talk to him for a little while. My son kept contact with Semaj and through him I learned that he had become more interested in music which I thought was great, being a coach I also thought that football had lost a great talent.
With life, pandemic and our move to California we both lost track of Semaj, and just now I found out about his untimely passing. I have no doubt he battled for every inch until the very end as he did on the field. Rest in peace dear Semaj, we love you, may the lord embrace you.
