The San Francisco 49ers released Reuben Foster Monday after his third arrest and Kyle Shanahan gave an honest and candid response in his press conference, answering every question in detail on the decision, the 49ers’ stance, and how to move forward.
So that leaves general manager John Lynch. Lynch gave a statement shortly after the domestic violence allegations on Foster were made public. Beyond that, it was Shanahan’s show.
Lynch went on KNBR’s Tolbert and Lund and obviously 12 of the 14 minutes were about the Reuben Foster situation. Lynch did wish Foster well and was very complimentary of his abilities as a football player but went into detail on the decision and what led to it:
“Although the idea of domestic violence is terrible and won’t be tolerated, it was more; we had had certain things that were expressed to him over and over again, crystal clear of what will be tolerated, what would absolutely be not. Those things were violated and it was a tough decision but in the same right it was an easy decision because those things had been so clearly communicated that Kyle and I looked at each other and we said, ‘ok we’re done, we move on.’ That’s not easy to do. That’s one heck of a player as well and has a chance to be that. We’ll see where this thing goes with him and move forward as an organization.”
Lynch later said there were things to learn from the situation but also pointed out several other teams were ready to pounce on Foster if the 49ers wouldn’t. The New Orleans Saints come to mind here because they were on the phone with him before it was known the 49ers had leap-frogged them to make the pick.
In any case, all sides of the story have been consistent and everything is over and done with on Reuben Foster. I’m sure there’s going to be a story on Foster’s side of the story coming in the next few months, but it sounds like the coaching staff and front office were on the same page.
And believe me, that’s a good thing.
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