Underneath a couple snazzy old-school Los Angeles Lakers and Seattle Supersonics pennants hanging in his bedroom, Foster Sarell has a chalkboard with five goals written out for him to see every morning, every afternoon and every evening.
-Start on varsity 9th grade.
-Go to All-American game.
-Go to a D1 school for football.
-1st round NFL draft
-NFL Hall of Fame
Arguably the top overall prospect and certainly in the discussion as the nation’s top offensive lineman, the five-star recruit from Graham (Wash.) Kapowsin is beginning to check off some of those boxes.
Sarell started as a freshman and immediately attracted the interest of college coaches, and by week three of that season the blue-chip 2017 recruit already had his first offers from Eastern Washington and Washington.
Ranked by 247Sports as the nation’s No. 2 offensive tackle and No. 5 recruit overall, the 6-foot-6, 320-pound Sarell has also been selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
That leaves the NFL dreams to be accomplished.
“I like to set goals for myself short-term and long-term,” Sarell said. “I think it’s good to shoot for your dreams and see how it goes, see where I need to be at the end of this thing and it’s a daily reminder of the work I need to put in to get there.
“I’ve had those goals for a long time, when I was 14 I said I might as well put them on a board and remind myself every day.”
Sarell didn’t want to look at his lousy hand-writing so he had his older sister scribe it out for him. As he pursues his football dreams he also pulls As in nearly every class and wants to do something in finance if it doesn’t work out on the gridiron.
“I have a really great support staff with my family,” Sarell said. “My parents have been really great through it all and my grandparents (they bought the chalkboard) are really supportive and I live in a good community. I just blend in, we have a small community around here, great group of friends that keep me real humble.”
Hard to believe Sarell blends in with his enormous size.
“When college recruiters come and see him in person they are unbelievably amazed,” Kapowsin coach Eric Kurle said. “He is not fat, has muscle definition, 6-6, 320 and runs really well.
“Then after they talk to him, it’s another level. He wants to talk football, technique, everything, he wants to be great. They see that after talking to him, he wants to be a great, great football player.”
Sarell’s mother laughs that she doesn’t know where Canton is but her and her husband ingrained their kids to aim for the bullseye in everything do, beginning with the books and school. Because of that Sarell has the opportunity to attend any school he wants, like a Stanford or a Notre Dame, because academics aren’t going to be an issue.
“I’m a high school teacher, so for me grades are everything,” Sarell said. “It’s always been a high priority for that in our family, because without grades, you take a lot of opportunities away when you’re missing that component.
“He works hard,” she continued. “He takes A.P. classes, just being in a high school, I know how important that is to take your A.P. classes. Ever since he was a freshman, and we didn’t know when we signed up for his classes in eighth grade where his football was going to take him, regardless of football we were thinking he’d still have taken those classes.”
Kurle had a good idea where football would take Sarell at a young age. His son is the starting center on the offensive line and is best friends with Sarell, so the two families have been close dating back to when the boys were in first or second grade. They’ve attended a lot of football, soccer and basketball games together.
“In fifth and sixth grade he was so athletic and a better athlete than everybody even though he’s twice as big,” Kurle said.
Kurle was already calling college coaches before Sarell started his first game as a freshman. From there he’s continued to develop.
“I think the best thing, his athletic ability and he plays downfield,” Sarell said. “Most kids that big can be lazy, he’s making blocks downfield for touchdowns. He’s pulling on a counter and runs through that like a running back. He has really soft feet, growing up playing basketball a lot he’s soft on his feet and can react real well.”
As far as recruiting goes, Sarell could be off the board by the end of the summer.
“I’m going to feel it out for a couple months,” he said. “Do a pros and cons, see what’s right for me, if I see something pulling me to a college and it’s the right fit I’ll have no problem committing then but that’s not going to happen right now.
“I really do enjoy Stanford and Notre Dame a lot. Academically they’re amazing, and they’re also extremely competitive. Washington is a great school, I’ve had great contact with their coaches. Michigan has been nice, Alabama has been nice, Nebraska I have a good relationship with their coaches.”
Sarell’s most recent visit was to Palo Alto.
“It’s just a unique place,” Sarell said. “It’s different than anywhere else. It’s real hard to describe. The weather there is first of all amazing. It’s in between the beach and city so it’s in the perfect location. The people there are almost so rich and have so much wealth you’re just surrounded by superstars and you feel like, it’s a very humble community. Everyone there is so powerful and humbled from it. It’s a cool and unique situation they have there with the people and how nice and supportive they are. When I visit a lot of them don’t know I play football and I’m a recruit there, they’re just so nice because that’s who they are.”
Sarell wanted to visit Notre Dame in April but his track schedule won’t allow him to check out South Bend for the first time until the first weekend in June.
“Notre Dame, they have a great football tradition, everyone knows that,” Sarell said. “Their o-line, they play similar to how I want to play. Big, physical nasty boys. Their o-line coach (Harry Hiestand) has been super awesome through this process. I like his mentality, he loves his players hard and coaches his players hard, and preaches being physical and being tough and that’s something I take pride in myself. I haven’t seen the campus but I know it’s a great school, great tradition and the coaches have been awesome too.”
The Huskies have been with Sarell since the beginning.
“They’re my hometown team and kind of down the road an hour and that’s pretty cool,” Sarell said. “Coach (Chris) Petersen is an amazing man and he’s genuine and I think he has the program on the right track and they’re going to do big things. They’re great guys, good men.”
Sarell looks forward to playing in front of a bunch of great men and women in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Played in San Antonio inside the Alamo Dome in January every year, the Army Bowl draws around 40,000 fans, many of them servicemen and servicewomen. NBC will have the national broadcast.
“It’s awesome,” Sarell said. His grandfather served our nation. “For all the troops that dedicated their life to our country and do everything they do to protect us, it’s awesome to play in front of them and make their day because they give us safety and support in this country. It will be cool to meet some of them and shake their hands and thank them for what they’ve done for us. It’s definitely going to be amazing.”
