D’Onta Foreman had a special season at Texas last year. The Texas City product rushed for over 2,000 yards and 15 touchdowns and awarded the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back.
But as he prepares to hear his name called this weekend at the NFL Draft in Philadelphia, we learned that Foreman was dealing with his own personal tragedy. In an exclusive interview with NFL Network’s Andrea Kremer, Foreman told the story of losing his son D’Onta Jr. during the season.
During the ’16 @TexasFootball season, @D33_foreman experienced an unimaginable loss.
The passing of his son, D’Onta Jr. https://t.co/KTN86tAyBk
— NFL (@NFL) April 24, 2017
“It was hard,” Foreman said, “It was so tough to keep it a secret. I didn’t want people feeling sorry for me. I just wanted to go out there and compete and I’d give it my all.”
Foreman Jr. was born prematurely on September 16 and died at seven weeks old on November 5. That was also the same day that he rushed for a career-best 341 yards and three touchdowns against Texas Tech.
“It was just something about that game, it was like, ‘I’m doing it for my son. I’m leaving it all out here,'” Foreman told Kremer in the interview.
Foreman also revealed that his girlfriend is pregnant again. The due date: September 16, the birthday of his son D’Onta Foreman Jr.
Best wishes to D’Onta Foreman and his family moving forward.
