MIAMI _ Chris Foerster was having a good day. That's how he measures his progress. Wake up. Breathe. Put one foot in front of the other. He pours a cup of coffee, swallows his sorrows and gets on with the rest of his life.
"I'm at peace," he said. "Now I have to figure this crap out. How to live right. I've got almost two or three years of this. Being honest. Used to be from the minute I woke up, I was telling lies."
Tuesday was special. Foerster stepped onto the football field at the University of Miami and watched the San Francisco 49ers go through a short practice for Super Bowl LIV Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Hired as a consultant by the 49ers two years ago, he didn't coach. He stood on the grass as offensive linemen teased him: "Ooh, they let you out of your cage."
Metaphorically, they were right. Foerster had not been on a field with a football team in more than two years. It had been the one place where he felt free to be himself, where the lies he told, the drug use he concealed and his infidelity were left on the other side of the white lines.
"Nobody could text. Nobody could call me. Nobody could ask me for anything. I was just me. Authentically, I could be Chris Foerster, the coach."
If you don't immediately recognize his name, chances are you will remember the video.
You will remember the Miami Dolphins offensive line coach, using a rolled-up $20 bill to snort a white powdery substance, in his office in the team facility. The video was made for one of his jilted girlfriends, who posted the disturbing image of a man taking a wrecking ball to a 36-year coaching career, a seven-figure salary, his marriage and his three children.
Foerster became aware the video had been posted on social media around midnight Oct. 9, 2017, hours after the Dolphins had beaten the Tennessee Titans, 16-10, at Hard Rock Stadium.
By daybreak, he was asked to resign. By 7 p.m. Monday, at the urging of oldest son Jake, 28, and wife Michelle, he checked into the Hanley addiction treatment center in West Palm Beach for a 60-day evaluation and rehabilitation for drugs and alcohol. That was followed by 90 days as an outpatient at the Beachcomber Addiction Treatment Facility in Delray Beach and six months living in a spare bedroom in the home belonging to Bucs quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen, who was the Dolphins offensive coordinator at the time.
Sunday afternoon, Foerster will board a 49ers team bus and return for the first time to Hard Rock Stadium. Since he is not a member of the coaching staff, he is not allowed to be on the field. Pre-game, during the game or post-game.
Two weeks ago, he watched the 49ers win the NFC Championship game over the Packers from his office in northern California. This time, he will be glued to the television from the 49ers locker room.
"This time, I wanted to be part of the process," Foerster said.
Since the humiliating video went viral, Foerster had not spoken publicly. He has been focused on battling addiction, getting healthy and putting the pieces of his life, marriage and family back together.
He declined several interview requests from the Tampa Bay Times this week before agreeing to meet for lunch Wednesday a few blocks from the 49ers' team hotel. He didn't want to take away attention from the team and he is quick to say that while he is healthy, he works at it every day and his recovery is not complete.
Foerster detailed his journey, which included reconnecting with his children, moving back into his home in St. Petersburg and helping his wife during her battle with stage four cancer. He never stopped coaching, working out players sometimes with equipment stashed in the back of his car until eventually earning the opportunity as a consultant for the 49ers.
"There's always a chance you relapse," Foerster said. "Life happens. It happens to a lot of people. Only through the grace of God, that's not me."
