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ASHBURN, Va. – After deciding to give Reuben Foster a second chance after being arrested for domestic violence, the Washington Redskins have announced that they will continue to investigate the legal problems of the 24-year-old give no badurance that he would do it. never play for them because of the obstacles they have to overcome to come back.
Foster is currently on the NFL Exempt Commissioners list and can not play or train after being arrested Saturday night at the San Francisco 49ers Hotel in Tampa. He was charged with a first degree domestic violence charge.
Washington was the only team to claim Foster after the 49ers released it on Monday, the league's latest example in which an organization examines problems off the field in search of potential field production. .
Coach Jay Gruden acknowledged Wednesday that the Redskins were facing public criticism that Foster was added shortly after his arrest. But the coach is not sure that the sophomore linebacker will go to Washington.
"We accept, of course, the questions, but we want to let the process unfold and see what happens and get to the bottom of things," said Gruden. "There's no guarantee that he's ever playing here, to be honest with you – he has a lot of work to do – personally, with the team, with the NFL, with himself." – before even thinking about playing football again. "
Foster was arrested on a domestic violence charge last spring. Although these charges were dropped, Foster served a two-game suspension starting this season for his arrest on a charge of possession of firearms and possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan, who was Washington's offensive coordinator from 2010 to 2013, said he was a little surprised to learn a team, Foster said. Gruden said it was "a team decision" made with President Bruce Allen and Senior Vice President of Player Staff Doug Williams.
"At the end of the day, we decided to act, and we will handle the outcry, so to speak," said Gruden. "But most of the time, it's about a young athlete, a youngster who's gotten in trouble and we want to know exactly what happened."
Gruden said that after Wednesday's practice, the organization had not spoken to the woman involved in the incident. He said the Redskins had spoken "a little" to the Tampa police and would continue to investigate Foster's situation at the same time as the NFL is conducting its investigation.
Nick Saban, Foster's Alabama coach, said he had not spoken to the linebacker and did not know much about his situation.
"All we can do to help Reuben or support him in any way, I think he knows we're here for him," said Saban. "I like to see our guys make the right choices and make the right decisions.We hope people can help Reuben do it in the future so that he can lead an exceptional career, but I did not talk to him. "
Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto who has studied violence against women by athletes, said that it was common for teams to suspend a player's judgment in situations such as this one.
"In a very lucrative team sport like football, I'm not too surprised," she said. "And this happens so often that we wait for the facts to be known, we will give him the benefit of the doubt, we do not want to destroy his career, there are always two sides to the story – endless excuses."
Williams said in a statement that the Redskins had spoken to former Foster teammates in Alabama before signing it. Washington has seven former Crimson Tide players who were Foster's teammates in Alabama, but two of them said they had not been interviewed about Foster by Allen, Williams, or Gruden.
"I did not tell Bruce or anyone about that," said Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. "You have to talk to this organization, the guys who are above me, about this decision.But as a human being, as a person who wants to support his family and make the right decisions, must simply learn from your mistakes. "
Defensive lineman Jonathan Allen stated that he also had not been consulted by the front desk and that he could only talk about Foster's character on the basis of his personal interactions with him. at the university.
"I have never had a problem, I have never seen any problem coming out of it," Allen said. "He's a great person, but I do not know all the details of the situation, so I can not really talk about it, but after my experience, it's been good."
Rookie linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton was pleased with Foster's addition, but declined to comment on whether he was interviewed by his team's manager on his former Alabama team-mate.
The Redskins are facing the same criticism as the Dallas Cowboys for recruiting linebacker Greg Hardy in 2015 after his domestic violence trial. The Redskins also hired Junior Galette linebacker in 2016 after being released by the New Orleans Saints following an arrest for domestic violence, which was later dismissed.
Gruden said the team could have waited and signed for Foster later, but did not want to risk another team signing it.
Foster's future with the team is not clear.
Boston University professor Emily Rothman, who has published more than three dozen studies on interpersonal violence, said she hoped that during the ongoing NFL investigation, the woman involved would have her say. to say about the following things.
"The most appropriate person is the survivor and the people who support him," Rothman said. "And that has to be done in a consistent way, now what are the consequences?" In some cases, suspension might be the right thing, in other cases it might not be because the situation can really vary."
The Redskins have faced Foster, whose rookie contract runs until 2020, hoping to help them on the field at some point. There is no time limit for him to contribute, and Gruden knows the team gets "nothing" so if Foster is found guilty.
"We understand that he has lived a lot and that there are problems out there," Gruden said. "We're going to let the NFL take its time and do the right thing with the investigation, like us, and we'll go from there."
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Writers Josh Dubow and Barry Wilner of professional football, and freelancer Marq Burnett of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, contributed to this report.
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