{"id":228368,"date":"2026-03-31T10:01:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/228368\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T10:01:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:01:40","slug":"ex-iowa-star-dallas-cowboys-player-melvin-foster-dead-at-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/228368\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Iowa star, Dallas Cowboys player Melvin Foster dead at 59"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Iowa football star and Dallas Cowboys player Melvin Foster has died, Iowa has announced<\/a>. He was 59.<\/p>\n

Foster was a linebacker for the Hawkeyes from 1987 to 1990, leading Iowa in tackles as a junior (116) and senior (107).<\/p>\n

He helped Iowa win the Big Ten Championship in 1990, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.<\/p>\n

Following his college career, Foster briefly played in the NFL and was a member of the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> team in 1992.<\/p>\n

A Houston native, once his football career ended, Melvin Foster served as a Harris County Deputy Sheriff Officer and Field Training Officer for 15 years.<\/p>\n

“Melvin was a native Houstonian who loved his hometown,\u201c his obituary says<\/a>. \u201dMelvin was also a devoted Christian father who cherished his children, grandchildren, and extended family. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe loved baking and barbecuing, filling his home with warmth and delicious food. The best part was he always shared his creations with everyone around him — he was a giving man with a big heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster shared Iowa team MVP honors in 1990 and finished his career with 337 tackles. He ranks 15th in school history in tackles for a career.<\/p>\n

Arguably the best game of his career came in 1990 against Michigan State when he recorded 20 stops and intercepted a pass.<\/p>\n

“Melvin\u2019s legacy continues on in the lives he touched, both as a loving family man and as a mentor in his professional and athletic endeavors,\u201c his obituary continues. \u201dHe truly gave his heart and love to everyone he met with no questions asked. <\/p>\n

\u201cMelvin\u2019s memory will be forever cherished by his family, friends, fellow officers, those he helped during his time of service, and all who knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Iowa football star and Dallas Cowboys player Melvin Foster has died, Iowa has announced. He was 59.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-228368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}