Richard Sherman is at the podium. https://t.co/YJu37E4D16
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 25, 2018
(skip to the 20:30 mark to hear Sherman)
Back in May, when the 49ers reinstated Reuben Foster after a four-month long domestic violence case loomed over both him and the team, his locker was placed next to Richard Sherman’s. The most recognizable name and figure in the 49ers locker room had become one of its de facto leaders, who carried himself the right way and could teach the younger guys to do the same.
The 49ers knew the delicacy of Foster’s future: arguably the 49ers’ brightest young talent was prone to behavioral issues that had jeopardized his career. Character concerns sprouted when he was sent home from the 2017 NFL Combine after he was involved in an altercation with a hospital employee.
Those issues caused what some consider to be a Hall-of-Fame-caliber talent — as John Lynch told KNBR in May — to fall to the 49ers with the No. 31 overall pick. Those problems resurfaced when Foster was arrested for marijuana possession in January, suspending him for two games, then arrested for domestic violence and gun charges one month later. Saturday night, Foster was arrested after being involved in another alleged domestic violence incident. The 49ers released Foster Sunday morning about four hours before their game, which they lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-9.
Sherman saw Foster’s many talents, including his athleticism, gregariousness, and positivity, and hoped he had learned from past mistakes.
“He’s a great kid,” Sherman told reporters Sunday. “It’s unfortunate this situation keeps coming up. I am sorry to hear it happened. You hate to see it. You wish the best for the kid.”
Sherman credited Foster for making the most out of a trying situation as a kid, growing up without much parental guidance and moving from home to home.
“You just make the best of what you got, and that’s what he tried to do,” Sherman said. “He made the best of a really tough situation, got himself a scholarship for it, got himself to Alabama, got himself to the NFL. It’s tough sometimes to develop the skills you need to make your way in the world, and he was doing that.”
Kyle Shanahan, Lynch, and Sherman have said they felt Foster had recently made progress. Austin Moss, the team’s director of player engagement, had consistently worked with Foster. “He knew his deficiencies,” said Sherman, who added he and his 49ers teammates looked out for Foster whenever they could.
Ultimately, his alleged misdeed Saturday night was too great for the 49ers to allow. They cut ties with Foster before the legal process played out, contrary to last time.
“It’s just a really compromising situation to put the team in repeatedly,” Sherman said. “You understand the decision the organization had to make after repeated offenses.”
Sherman said he will continue to reach out to Foster as he awaits another trial and his playing career hangs in the balance. Sherman reiterated that Foster is a “good guy” with a “good heart,” something he learned as his locker mate for the past six months.
“To the outside world, we are fantasy points,” Sherman said. “We are names and stats. But inside the locker room, you develop more of a bond, more of a relationship. You know who a person is. You don’t think about him as a jersey number or a last name or anything like that. You think of him as a human being.
You see his trials and tribulations. You see his ups and his downs. You are just sad for the kid, man. It’s just a situation that, it just sucks, honestly.”