Today new broke that Alabama linebacker and top draft prospect Reuben Foster had a positive drug test at the NFL Combine.
Foster has been aware of the positive drug test for about a month, according to an NFL.com report.
Foster had already been dealing with nagging questions about his surgically repaired shoulder and his childhood friends. Now he has a drug test to answer.
“Hectic, stressful, very stressful,” Foster said to NFL.com, after visiting teams in preparation for the NFL Draft. “It’s like the devil is coming after me.”
Foster was notified that his urine sample obtained in Indianapolis during the combine was reported as dilute.
Foster disclosed his drug test to NFL.com and believes it was food poisoning.
“This is something that’s going to get out. I don’t make excuses. I’m a real dude. I try to be a good person. … I just hope the coaches understand and that’s all I can hope and pray for.” Foster has already been on the phone talking with teams telling them himself.
“I couldn’t eat much, but I had to drink water and Gatorade,” said Foster.
“Then a few coaches said something about me being too light. And I’m a coach-pleaser. I don’t care what everybody thinks, but I care what coaches think. So I drank and ate as much as I could without throwing up. Then I went in there, drinking and drinking water, trying to flush out my system from whatever was making me sick and trying to keep my weight up and took the test.”
Foster understands that this may cause him to slide a bit in the draft next week.
“If it’s first round, second round, whoever takes me will get a good football player and an All-Pro,” Foster said. “I hope I go on Thursday, but I can’t control that.”
Foster has had many frustrations including reports that his shoulder may require a 2nd operation.
“I’m doing everything I’m supposed to do, but no matter what I do, it doesn’t come out right,” Foster said.
Foster also got into a heated altercation with a hospital worker and was sent home before completing his medical exam.
“I apologized for that, I’ve learned from it,” Foster said.
“That’s in the past and it won’t happen again.” Foster stated.
Foster may experience a drastic slide much like Miami Dolphins’ offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil did last year.
The Old Miss prospect was projected to be, in some mocks, a number one pick. Minutes before the draft Tunsil’s Twitter account was hacked and a video was posted showing Tunsil smoking a bong.
Tunsil dropped significantly in the draft due to the video but didn’t fall past the Dolphins who selected him with the 13th overall pick.
With Foster projected to go in the Top 10, it is easy to assume that these hiccups may be seen as red flags by many teams, teams that may now pass on spending a 1st round pick on him.
One team that could benefit, again, may be the Dolphins who sit at #22 and have needs all over the defensive side of the football, including linebacker.
Should Foster slide to them the Dolphins, who have proven with Tunsil that they are willing to take a risk with red flag prospects, may be inclined to take Foster at 22.
Before this new development materialized it was hard to imagine Foster falling out of the Top 10 and impossible to fathom him falling out of the Top 20.
Now there may be a chance he could slide to the bottom of the first round.
To quote the great Yogi Berra, this could be “deja vu all over again”.