Robert Foster couldn’t help but remember being in the same shoes — literally and physically.So when a 14-year-old boy was trying on an expensive pair of Adidas Yeezy’s and uncertain if his mother could afford them Dre'Mont Jones Jersey , the Buffalo Bills rookie receiver stepped in.“I just felt like how he felt,” Foster said. “I would always ask my mom and dad for a certain pair of shoes and sometimes they’d do it for me, and sometimes they didn’t. So I just said, ‘Let me do something special for somebody today.’ So I got them for him.”The story of what happened at a Buffalo-area mall in late-November came to light when Lori Stearns praised Foster in posting a note on her Facebook page. She said her son was trying on the shoes when a customer at the register, who turned out to be Foster, asked if she liked them.When Stearns responded, “No way, they are too expensive,” Foster insisted he’d pay for them. It was at that point, Foster introduced himself to Stearns and her son.“It made my young man’s night,” Stearns wrote, while including a picture of her son and Foster on the post. “Definitely one beautiful memory he will carry into adulthood! So we wanted to thank you Robert for being so thoughtful and wishing you a very merry Christmas.”It was nothing, said Foster, who wasn’t expecting to attract publicity.“That’s my motto: Give and you shall receive,” Foster said. “God has been working throughout my life and my family’s life, so I just wanted to do something special for the kid.”Foster’s career has taken an upturn over the final half of the season. In six games since being promoted from the practice squad, the undrafted rookie out of Alabama leads Buffalo with 21 catches for 490 yards and two touchdowns.GOING DEEPNick Foles has completed seven passes of 30 yards or more in the past two games, including four to Alshon Jeffery, and he has 10 such throws in four games. He also threw an 83-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor last week. Carson Wentz only had 16 passes of 30 yards or more in his 11 starts.“I think that’s one of the differences with Nick is he puts a little more air on the ball, gives the receiver an opportunity,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. “Every deep ball can be a little bit different, it can be a back-shoulder throw, it could be a down-the-field (throw) where they have to stretch out, so every deep throw can be a little bit different. I think our quarterbacks have really developed touch and feel for that. You’ve seen that with Nick now in the last couple weeks.”Wentz still has a higher average than Foles on yards per attempt (7.7 to 7.4) and yards per completion (11 to 10.5).FLYING HIGHThe long road to a victory away from Lambeau Field for the Packers this season ended with Green Bay’s rousing 44-38 win in overtime last week over the New York Jets. It was so unusual that rookie receiver Equanimeous St. Brown learned a lesson about celebrating on the flight home.“It was beautiful Hakeem Butler Jersey , it was funny because EQ mentioned something to me like, ‘What do we do on the plane after we win?'” veteran wideout Davante Adams recounted this week. “I was like, ‘What? What do you mean?'”St. Brown didn’t know how to celebrate after the Packers started the season 0-7 on the road. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was among players in the locker room who spoke about how happy a flight back to Green Bay can be following a road victory.“They haven’t actually felt that togetherness and that happiness of being on the plane after an NFL road win, being in the league,” Adams said. “So it was a good win for those guys, and obviously it boosted the morale of the team on the way back, so it was a good feeling.”OH, SNAP!There’s no love for long snappers when it comes to Pro Bowl voting.It’s the only position in the NFL that isn’t picked in balloting by the fans, coaches and players. The coaches of the AFC and NFC teams choose the player — sometimes with input from the kickers and punters — to make the trip to the NFL’s all-star game.“Yeah, definitely, they should be voted on,” Jets special teams coordinator Brant Boyer said.Of course, the likes of the Jets’ Thomas Hennessy, the Giants’ Zak DeOssie, Atlanta’s Jon Condo and Miami’s John Denney might not be as easily recognized as, say, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Antonio Brown and J.J. Watt. That also comes with the territory.Anonymity is a good thing for snappers, who usually only gain notice — and notoriety — when something goes awry.“I will be honest: I think it is something that’s probably a little tough to vote on,” said Hennessy, in his second season with the Jets. “It’s tough to the untrained eye, the differences in long snappers, other than not having any bad snaps. That’s the most obvious thing a fan would look at http://www.bengalscheapstore.com/jonah-williams-jersey-cheap , but the actual protection and coverage, it usually takes a little bit of tape study. It’s something I wasn’t even fully aware of until I got to the NFL, the differences in guys.”Skill players — quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends — and defensive players all have production-based statistics that can set each other apart in Pro Bowl balloting. Offensive linemen are similar to long snappers in that there aren’t any easily accessible stats with which fans could choose who the best ones are. Still, O-linemen are on the ballot and long snappers aren’t.“It would be cool if it were voted on,” Hennessy said. “I do think it’s tough to vote on and could turn into something that’s a popularity contest, solely based on the snapper who might have the most social media exposure and they would probably win it, I would guess. I could be totally wrong, though. It would be cool and interesting to see.”SARKISIAN’S FUTUREFalcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian wasn’t interested in discussing his future with Atlanta when asked if he expects to return next year.“My focus is on the game,” he said. “You control what you can control in this business, and what I can control is going out and getting our guys prepared and going and playing a great game Sunday in Tampa.”The Falcons haven’t exactly whiffed on offense since Sarkisian was hired, but they were nowhere near the level of productivity they had under his predecessor, Kyle Shanahan.When Shanahan left to take charge of the San Francisco 49ers after helping the Falcons lead the league in scoring and win the 2016 NFC title, the Falcons turned to Sarkisian, a former head coach at Southern Cal and Washington whose recent stint was on the staff at Alabama.His plan was to add wrinkles to Shanahan’s zone blocking scheme, but the relationship never quite clicked. Last year ended in the playoffs with the Eagles stopping Matt Ryan and Julio Jones on fourth-and-goal in a close loss. This year’s season opener sputtered again on the final drive at Philadelphia, and the offense, due in part to season-ending injuries for running back Devonta Freeman and both starting guards, never got going.Jones, a six-time Pro Bowl receiver, insists that Sarkisian doesn’t deserve all the criticism.“He’s been a great coach for us, man Drew Sample Jersey ,” Jones said. “Everything about him. The way he wants to attack defensive coordinators and things like that, the battles we go through week in and week out, the chess matches throughout the game, changing things. As far as what we see, he’ll adapt. He’ll call the plays that we want in the games. Things like that. He’s been a great coach for us this year.”Ryan agrees with Jones.“In all honesty, it’s about trying to find a way to get a win, and Sarkisian has done a good job,” Ryan said. “He’s put us in a good position to be successful, and as players it’s our job to go out there and make the plays. I’m not worried about that right now.”Sarkisian wouldn’t say whether he wants to return next year or possibly look for another college job.“The rest of it, when you starting worrying about what other people control or emotions of other people and whatnot, that’s when you get yourself in trouble and you get yourself distracted, and you don’t do the best job you can do.,” he said. “You can stay focused on the task.” INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — There’s one quarterback at the NFL scouting combine that New York Giants coach Pat Shurmur has absolutely fallen in love with, and it’s not Kyler Murray, Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock, Daniel Jones or Ryan Finley.It’s Kyle Shurmur, his 22-year-old son who threw 50 touchdowns over the last two seasons for Vanderbilt.“Well, I’m extremely proud of him,” the Giants coach said. “He’s made great decisions. He did an excellent job in high school giving himself the opportunity to go to a place like Vanderbilt. He graduated in 3½ years, helped them win games. He’s a good player.Kyle Shurmur isn’t quite in the same league as the top-flight QBs , but at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, a degree in economics and a background that includes a near equal split between under center and shotgun formations over four years in the SEC, he projects as a bona fide pro prospect.Chances are good he’ll be on somebody’s depth chart come fall. Maybe even the Giants’ roster.“I’d be grateful for any opportunity I get http://www.bengalscheapstore.com/germaine-pratt-jersey-cheap ,” Kyle said.Even if that means facing his father instead of playing for him.“Any opportunity I get I’ll be really appreciative,” Kyle said.He already has an advantage the other QBs don’t. In preparing for the combine, he received tips not only from his agent, Tom Condon, but he also got plenty of fatherly advice about what to expect.“Growing up I always watched the combine on TV and you only see maybe the bench press, but then you see the on-field drills,” Kyle said, noting it’s so much more than that. “It’s a five-day process. He mentally prepared me for that. My agent and him sort of gave me the scoop of what to expect, five days as opposed to one day.”Of course, Pat Shurmur has been doling out direction all of Kyle’s life.“Everyone thinks he wants me to be a great quarterback,” Kyle said. “I think he wants me to be a great person first and foremost. And I think that’s a foundation for a great quarterback.”An All-Big 10 center at Michigan State, Pat Shurmur never pushed his son to play in the trenches.“No, in fact he said growing up, make sure you play a position where your hand is not in the ground,” Kyle said.Rarely did he talk technique with his son.“I had great coaches at Vanderbilt,” Kyle said. “They coached me hard, coached me well, and he sort of stayed out of it.”While he shares his father’s passion for football, Kyle wants to follow him into the NFL but not into coaching.“My dad was always going into work super early, coming back really late at night. My mom was sort of on her own a whole lot, so I don’t know if I’d love the coaching style,” Kyle said. “But being the player, I got a great opportunity right now and obviously being a player would be amazing. It’s been my dream my whole life.”Kyle had something else the rest of this year’s QB class didn’t: access to the likes of Donovan McNabb, Sam Bradford Ryan Finley Jersey , Colt McCoy and Brandon Weeden while growing up; he’d help out at training camps in Philadelphia, St. Louis and Cleveland.And he’s met Eli Manning, of course.“I saw him at the Manning camp two years in a row and then I saw him the last game of the season after my bowl game,” Kyle said. “I went home to see my family and I actually saw Eli on the field before the game. He’s a great guy.”While both father and son are together in Indianapolis this week, they’ve only spent a few precious moments with eachother.“He’s got a job to do and I got a job to do,” Kyle said.Pat is helping general manager Dave Gettleman see if Manning’s successor is here .“He’s closer to 40 than he is to 20. That’s no mystery,” Pat Shurmur said. “And certainly, we’re going to try to do the very best we can to get the best players, especially the one that’s playing quarterback.”While Pat’s aim is to make his team better, Kyle’s is to make a team.“I want to show that I’m an accurate passer, that I’m athletic and I have a good physical build and do my best with all the running,” Kyle said. “I know that one of my weaknesses is taking off and running, so showing that I’m not really slow, I have the potential to take off and run.”The Shurmurs crossed paths on the first day of the combine when they were in the “train station,” a large room where teams conduct informal interviews with the more than 300 draft prospects in between their workouts, weigh-ins and physicals.“I was near the Giants table and saw him for a minute, which was pretty cool,” Kyle said. “He came up and gave me like a hug, bro hug, whatever you call it.”Father and son, embracing both each other and this brief time together, hoping it continues in the pros.