Reuben Foster hasn’t even stepped foot into Redskins Park and the franchises decision to take a chance on him is already backfiring. This week the Washington Redskins faced a firestorm of criticism after news broke that they claimed the troubled second-year linebacker off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers released him following an arrest in Tampa, FL last Saturday night for a domestic violence altercation with an on-and-off again girlfriend.
This incident was Foster’s second arrest in eight months. Previously, in February, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence [against the same woman] and possession of an assault rifle. The domestic violence charge was dropped and he was given two years’ probation.
Just 72-hours after his recent arrest in Tampa, Foster had the security of knowing that an NFL team is still interested in him.
A statement from the Washington Redskins Senior Vice President of Player Personnel Doug Williams: pic.twitter.com/zdxA8hmWtb
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) November 27, 2018
Unfortunately, that statement wasn’t enough for most people. The NFL quickly followed up by placing Foster on the Commissioner’s Exempt List while the league investigates the matter. Whether the Redskins wanted to or not, they sent the wrong message about their stance on domestic violence. To be fair, the NFL’s overall standard on domestic violence is inconsistent. On one end, Baltimore Ravens’ Ray Rice never played again after a video surfaced of him hitting his girlfriend on an elevator but former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy and other NFL athletes accused of domestic violence remained gainfully employed.
Nonetheless, the PR backlash is in full effect. The Redskins have a pivotal game against the Philadelphia Eagles tonight but the story that is dominating the headlines is every explanation team officials have to give to the public regarding Foster. Then more fuel was added to the fire on Thursday when Vice President of Player Personnel Doug Williams made the mistake of stating in a radio interview that people in high places have done far worse than Foster and his charge is “small potatoes compared to a lot of things out there.”
Williams later apologized at the Redskins routine press conference on Friday.
“First of all, I want to apologize to the organization, my wife, my sisters and the six daughters that I have,” Williams said. “The last night or so has been really tough on me from an emotional standpoint because never in my life have I said anything so insensitive as I said. I’m not going to sit here and make excuses, because there are no excuses.”
The week didn’t get any better. The Redskins found themselves apart of several jokes across social media when the Kansas City Chiefs announced on Friday night that they were releasing Kareem Hunt after TMZ shared a video of Hunt shoving and kicking a woman.
https://twitter.com/TorreySmithWR/status/1068688039029997570
Waiting for the Redskins to file a waiver claim for Kareem Hunt.
— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) December 1, 2018
All of this makes you wonder: Is it worth risking the team’s reputation for a player who may never wear a Redskins uniform? Only time will tell if everything pans out with Foster. In the short-term, the move is overshadowing one of the best seasons the Redskins have had in a couple of years.