San Francisco 49ers rookie sensation Reuben Foster was arrested and domestic violence is suspected.
There’s a lot of joy around the San Francisco 49ers these days, but not everything is rosy. Reuben Foster, a player John Lynch drafted last year despite character red flags, was arrested for the second time in a month on Sunday. It’s suspected that domestic violence is at the root of this arrest, which would be another brutal strike against Foster.
Foster first arrest came just shy of a month ago when police in Tuscaloosa busted him on a second-degree marijuana possession. The NFL isn’t loose with its drug policy and the fact that Foster was flagged at the combine last year for drug use didn’t seem to help his cause.
If there’s domestic violence involved with this latest arrest, that could serve as a final straw for the 49ers, who have stuck with Foster up to this point. Despite the promise that Foster shows on the field, Lynch and his regime have already shown a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to domestic abuse. Last year cornerback Tramaine Brock was arrested after allegedly trying to strangle his then-girlfriend. He was released by the team the following day, drawing a very clear line in the sand about where the front office stands on this specific issue.
The NFL has been criticized in the past for being lax on domestic abusers, whether it be Ray Rice and the overcorrection to wipe egg off its face or the casualness with which Greg Hardy was welcomed back to the league even after he was brought to court for savagely beating his girlfriend.
San Francisco has had a dicey past itself with players finding themselves on the wrong side of the law. Players like Aldon Smith and Ray McDonald, who were key contributors on defense, were released when they became too much of a problem. That was before Lynch, who has made it clear his regime won’t stand for this kind of behavior.
How it deals with Foster is going to be a very big deal.