Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. went from substitute teaching to a Super Bowl championship in a matter of months. Winning a ring, however, hasn’t convinced him to abandon his backup plan.
The NFL spotlighted Foster’s unusual journey on August 19, sharing a clip from HBO’s “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Seattle Seahawks” in which the 24-year-old detailed how being waived by Seattle pushed him toward substitute teaching and, eventually, real estate.
Foster made it all the way back to the Seahawks and was with the team during its run to a Super Bowl LX championship. But this offseason, he revealed, he was back holding open houses, with his Super Bowl ring in tow.
“I brought my Super Bowl ring to the open houses,” Foster said in the “Hard Knocks” clip. “Haven’t made a sale yet, but we got some stuff brewing.”
For a player currently fighting to establish an NFL career, that second profession isn’t merely a quirky offseason hobby. It grew out of a period when Foster had no idea whether football was going to work out at all.
Montorie Foster Jr. Turned to Teaching, Real Estate After Seahawks Cut
Foster went undrafted out of Michigan State in 2025 before earning an invitation to Seattle’s rookie minicamp and eventually signing with the Seahawks.
Then came the setback.
Foster said he tweaked his hamstring only a few days into training camp, and Seattle waived him. Suddenly, the NFL career he had spent years chasing was on hold.
“Kind of was lost. Didn’t know where I wanted to go,” Foster recalled on “Hard Knocks.”
His response was to keep training while finding something else to occupy his time. Foster began substitute teaching and obtained his real estate license.
The teaching job brought him back to familiar territory. Foster worked as a substitute at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio, where he had attended school before playing at Michigan State. A February profile from St. Edward detailed how Foster spent the fall 2025 semester teaching in some of the same classrooms he once sat in as a student.
Then Seattle called again.
Foster said the Seahawks brought him back to their practice squad around Week 16, beginning a remarkable stretch that took him all the way through Seattle’s Super Bowl run.
“The Seahawks win Super Bowl 60,” Foster said. “During the offseason, was doing open houses.”
He even used his limited time away from football during training camp to renew his real estate license, joking on “Hard Knocks” about discovering just how many fees come with the profession.
“Hopefully we get this money back,” Foster said.
Foster Making His Case for Seahawks Roster Spot
There’s a reason “Hard Knocks” — and now the NFL — has found Foster’s story worth highlighting.
He isn’t just an inspirational holdover from last season. He is trying to make himself difficult for the Seahawks to cut in 2026.
Foster delivered one of Seattle’s best individual performances in its August 15 preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys, leading the Seahawks with five receptions for 36 yards and catching their only touchdown in a 17-7 loss.
The score came on Seattle’s opening possession when Drew Lock connected with Foster for a 5-yard touchdown to finish a 13-play, 80-yard drive. Seahawks.com noted afterward that Foster had already been making plays throughout training camp before carrying that momentum into the preseason.
“Hard Knocks” subsequently made Foster one of the central underdog stories of its third episode, highlighting both his perseverance and his attempt to stick in Seattle.
That makes the real-estate license particularly fitting.
Foster has already experienced how quickly an NFL opportunity can disappear. A year ago, an injury sent him from Seahawks training camp back home looking for work. Months later, he was a Super Bowl champion.
Now he’s back in camp trying to make sure the next chapter of that story is written in Seattle — while keeping another career ready, just in case.
NFL Spotlights Seahawks Hard Knocks Star’s Unusual Backup Plan