Reuben Foster's former college coach, Nick Saban, commented on the San Francisco 49ers linebacker's recent legal troubles. Foster is facing multiple felony charges following an arrest back on February 11, which, if convicted, could land him in prison for more than 11 years, according to a news release last Thursday from the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.
Saban, who is the head coach of Alabama, briefly commented on Foster's situation during a press conference on Saturday after a team scrimmage.
"Look, we hate it very much when any player that we had here, who did a great job for us here at Alabama – great job – in terms of how he represented the university, how he represented our program, the contribution that he made to our program, and, obviously, we have a player that you'll probably ask me about that has legal issues – Reuben Foster," Saban told reporters. "I don't think I'm in a position to comment, because I don't know the details and the facts.
"One of the things we try to teach our players here is that there are consequences for good and bad behavior, but we're going to remain supportive and try to help our players every way that we can.
"We don't condone this kind of behavior and certainly would not like to see any of our players have any of these kinds of issues or the victims to suffer any at all. So, with that said, I can't make any more comments about that."
You can listen to Saban's comments about Foster, which begin at the 3:25 mark, in the video below.
The 49ers made Foster the 31st-overall pick in last year's draft. He faces charges of domestic violence with an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury, forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime, and possession of an assault weapon.
The 28-year-old alleged victim, who was his live-in girlfriend at the time, reportedly suffered bruises and a ruptured eardrum from the altercation.
"The victim told responding sheriff's deputies and Los Gatos police that Foster dragged her by her hair, physically threw her out of the house, and punched her in the head 8 to 10 times," read the DA's release.
The 49ers announced on Sunday that "Reuben Foster will not participate in team activities as he is tending to his legal matters." The team kicks off its offseason program today with the draft starting next week.