Patriots Offer Contract, But Foster Doesn't Sign

The New England Patriots offered Harvard's Rod Foster a free-agent contract and invited him to a rookie tryout camp this weekend, but the senior running back has not signed with the NFL club.

Foster said yesterday that he declined to sign with the Patriots because he wants to hear more from "five or six" other pro teams before making a decision. "It's unfortunate that this comes up just now," Foster said yesterday. "But if I sign with the Patriots I won't be able to consider anything these other clubs might have to offer."

The rookie camp, which will be held this weekend in Tampa, Fla., is organized to give the Patriots's coaching staff a chance to get to know the rookies and free agents. But a player must be under contract before he can attend, and this is the point on which Foster balked.

Foster would not reveal which other NFL teams have contacted him, but did say that "two or three West Coast teams" had been in communication with him and that "he wanted to find out what they have to offer."

Ben Lynch of the Patriots public relations office would not say yesterday whether Foster had been invited to the Patriots camp. "We can't make an announcement like that until the player is under contract," Lynch said.

If Foster does not attend this weekend's rookie camp, chances appear slim that he will be asked again by the New England club.

"The guy that recruited me said I should forget it if I couldn't make the camp," Foster said.

Bypassed

Foster, who was bypassed in the regular NFL draft in January, has been sending letters on his own to several NFL teams looking for an offer to try out. "I've written mainly to the teams that have had coaching changes," Foster said, "because that is where there is the most opportunity to catch on. Those are the teams that are looking for new blood."

While Foster played quarterback and running back at Harvard, most professional scouts he has been in contact with think of him in terms of his potential as a cornerback. In his Harvard career Foster gained 694 yards on the ground for a 4.8 average and ten touchdowns, passed for 733 yards and 13 touchdowns, and returned kickoffs for 603 additional yards.