The NFL world blasted the Washington Redskins for adding a player 3 days after he was arrested on charge of domestic violence
- The Washington Redskins claimed Reuben Foster off waivers three days after theSan Francisco 49ers released him following his second arrest of 2018 related to allegations of domestic violence.
- Washington swiftly received criticism across the NFL world after making the move.
- In a statement, the team said that Foster "will have to go through numerous steps including the full legal process" before playing for the team.
The Washington Redskins claimed former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster off waivers on Tuesday.
Foster had been let go by the 49ers after being arrested Saturday on a charge of domestic violence, his second such arrest of the year.
The move was met with criticism from across the NFL world, who recognized Washington's decision to pick up Foster's contract as hypocritical to the league's stance against domestic violence.
Other critics brought up the league's response to Ray Rice's incidents of domestic violence as a way of framing Washington's decision to bring in Foster.
There were also those that highlighted that in today's NFL, teams still refuse to give Colin Kaepernick a shot, but bringing in a player who was arrested twice is apparently a move teams are willing to make.
Redskins Senior V.P. of Player Personnel Doug Williams released a statement regarding their decision to claim Foster, saying that they "fully understand the severity of the recent allegations made against Reuben," adding that if they are true, "you can be sure these allegations are nothing our organization would ever condone."
The statement continued:
"Let me be clear, Reuben will have to go through numerous steps including the full legal process, an investigation and potential discipline from the NFL, as well as meetings with counselors associated with the team before he will ever have the opportunity to wear the Burgundy and Gold as a player."
"That being said, we decided to investigate the situation with Reuben further by claiming his rights after candid conversations with a number of his ex-Alabama teammates and current Redskins players who were overwhelmingly supportive of us taking this chance."
This statement was also quickly met with criticism.
While the Redskins statement seems to say that the team has no plans on playing him in the near future, it's not yet clear whether he'd even be allowed if the team wanted to get him into the lineup. Foster is likely facing a suspension from the NFL for his latest arrest.