On The TunneySide of Sports December 3, 2018 #721 Up next… Just do the right thing!
After further review… The question I am asked often, after 31 years as a National Football League on-field official, is: Who is or was your favorite T*E*A*M? I am sure other officials are asked the same question. My answer now and always has been that I don’t have a favorite team for the basic reason: “I don’t care who wins.” In fact, the title of my first book was: Impartial Judgment, since it’s incumbent upon every game official to remain unbiased. The integrity of the NFL begins with and maintained by its game officials. Just do the right thing!
The recent case of NFL player Reuben Foster brings the integrity issue to light. To refresh, Foster was a 2017 first round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers after being an All-American linebacker at the University of Alabama. On the field Foster was a dominant (in capital letters) linebacker, off the field he was not an upright citizen. The 49ers were willing to gamble that their environment could help Foster refine to be a worthy citizen. That didn’t work.
Foster is known for making unwise personal decisions. In 2017 he was “kicked out” of the NFL Combine for a failed drug test and an altercation with a hospital employee. At the start of this 2018 season he was suspended for two games by the NFL for a marijuana charge coupled with a gun charge – a loaded gun found on his bathroom floor. Lately, the 49ers felt that Foster was “really taking some positive steps” and buying into the commitment he had made. The 49ers had made it clear to him, there are consequences for egregious actions. In this latest incident, Foster had taken his “girl-friend” to Tampa for the ‘niners game with the Tampa Bay Bucs. The night before the Bucs game she claimed he was physically abusive to her and called the police. Upon Foster’s arrest the 49ers Immediately released him. Right thing to do!
Placing Foster on waivers meant that any team could contact and sign him. He couldn’t play or attend practices, because he was placed on the NFL commissioner’s “exempt” list. The Washington Redskins wanted first choice when he was eligible. What was the Redskins thinking? Did they need his linebacking skills so badly that they were going to overlook his off-field behavior? Putting a player with this kind of history on your roster is not doing the right thing. Perhaps the Foster case will create a stronger league rule about off-field (mis)behavior.
Will you log-in about your belief on doing the right thing?
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