According to Rivals.com, Reuben Foster was ranked as the no. 1 inside linebacker in the country coming out of high school. He was recruited to future hall of fame coach Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide. Foster went on to anchor Alabama's defense for two years, winning a national championship his sophomore year, and then left school early to enter the draft the following year.
Another young talent destroys himself
He was a serious talent, and a dog, as Foster himself said. But, the rough raucousness spilled over into his personal life, and Reuben Foster was arrested on Feb.
11 for throwing his girlfriend from their home and punching her close to ten times. According to San Francisco CBS, his actions caused three felonies—Domestic Violence with an allegation that he inflected great bodily injury, forcefully preventing a victim from reporting a crime and illegal possession of an assault weapon.
The charges could cost Foster up to 11 years in prison.
This was such destructive irony, considering Foster was heralded as the best linebacker coming out of high school, and arguably the best linebacker in the 2017 draft. It was between Foster and Solomon Thomas, who was from Stanford. But, the charges could now cost Foster 11 years of his life.
Foster and Thomas were pre-season favorites to win rookie of the year after both were drafted in the first round by the 49ers.
But, that honor now belongs to Marshon Lattimore.
Foster had a truly hard life
While Foster had shown issues of aggression that transcended the football field and affected how he treated people in the every day, it was because him and his mother were shot by their father when Foster was just a child. Still, the pain he held in him, the fire of honor, led to some extremely poor decisions.
Foster cost himself his dream to compete in the NFL combine thanks to the following experience: According to Sports Illustrated, "he engaged in a heated argument with a hospital employee while waiting in the long line for medical tests at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital."
The fiery drive for competition is powerful.
Foster had it in spades. Football was his outlet, I'm sure, to expel his frustration. It was a stress reliever, Foster even admitted.
Reuben's father, Danny Foster, went to prison for shooting Reuben's mother and him. But, he filed his cell bars and escaped. He tried to get back in contact with Reuben and his mom when Reuben was in high school. His relationship with his father was strenuous, and Reuben struggled at things beside football.
Foster was arrested prior to Feb. 11 for marijuana possession, and he failed the drug test at the combine, causing his draft stock to plummet. Foster chose to act irresponsibly instead of holding himself accountable, and it cost the young talent his career and his freedom. It's truly tragic when the personal troubles of young stars throw them off track.
