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Foster After Shazier Injury: 'I Felt Scared About Football'

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PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) -- It was another physical, ugly game Monday night between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals; one that saw Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier leave early in the first quarter with a back injury.

Shazier was not moving his legs while laying on the field after trying to administer a hit on Bengals' wide receiver Josh Malone. The hit left everyone frightened about potential paralysis for Shazier.

Steelers offensive guard Ramon Foster joined the Fan Morning Show on Tuesday and explained what was going through his mind when it happened.

"This was one of the first times ever, in my entire life of playing football, where I felt scared of football," said Foster. "That wasn't normal. I've seen a lot of catastrophic stuff, but never anybody take a hit like that."

Foster says he was able to keep playing the rest of the game by keeping in mind that his teammate was in the right hands.

"You try to zone in away from it," said Foster. "You know that he's going to have some of the best doctors and staff around him and that's what you hope on right there. You've got to be a little thick-minded in a sense knowing that, 'Hey, I've still got a job and a game to play.'"

Ramon also commented on the so-called "rivalry" between the Steelers and Bengals and explained what a rivalry means to him, which is not what Pittsburgh has with Cincinnati.

"I'll just put it this way about that term 'rivalry.' You know rivalry is when two teams go back and forth and there's wins and losses on both sides," said Foster. "We've kind of dominated the series in a sense that. Is it really a rivalry or is it just a messy game at times? I respect a lot of players on their team, offense and defense. I have a lot of respect for Geno [Adkins], [Carlos] Dunlap, [Michael] Johnson, even Pacman [Jones]. Pacman is one of the coolest guys you'll ever meet. It's just the extra stuff that goes in to it that's making it a rivalry."

So does Ramon have the same respect for Vontaze Burfict?

"I respect his play-making ability and the type of player he can be, but the extra stuff that comes along with it, it's unnecessary," Foster said.

You can hear the entire interview with Steelers guard Ramon Foster on the Fan Morning Show below. Foster appears lives on 93.7 The Fan at 8 a.m. ever Tuesday.

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