The domestic-violence and weapon arrest of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster this week is still being reviewed by prosecutors, but the team and NFL’s handling of the case in the football realm is being eyed by victim advocates as a bellwether for whether the league has really turned a corner on addressing player violence against women.
The 49ers hold the dubious distinction of having the most player arrests in the league since 2012 — a total of 17, several of them involving domestic-violence allegations. Foster’s case is also one of the first to surface since the #MeToo movement heightened debate and awareness of violence against women, putting new pressure on the NFL and other professional sports franchises to hold their players to a new standard.