Monday Morning Blitz: Foster Embarrasses Himself At NFL Combine

Saturday Blitz’s Ryan McNeill debuts his new weekly column, Monday Morning Blitz.

All college players need to do at the NFL Combine is show up, work their tails off participating in drills, and then do whatever they can during meetings to impress front office folks.

The NFL Draft Combine is basically speed dating, but with millions of dollars possibly at stake because players will rise or fall in the upcoming NFL Draft based on how they perform in these meetings and drills.

Foster showed up to the combine unable to participate in drills due to recently having rotator cuff surgery, so all he had to do is show up with a big smile and try to charm NFL coaches and front office people.

Slam dunk for a player projected to get drafted in the top ten – and possibly even the top three – of the 2017 NFL Draft, right?

Instead, Foster decided to get in a “heated altercation” with a hospital worker. Once the NFL found out about the incident, Foster was sent home for “personal reasons,” but it doesn’t take a psychic to read these tea leaves.

The troubling thing is even after being sent home, Foster initially refused to admit he made a mistake or be accountable for his mistake.

“Everything ain’t perfect,” Foster said in a video released via social media. “I’m good. I just have to think. I just had to sit back and relax and think about what I really want.”

Keep in mind, Foster is the same kid who got an Auburn tattoo, only to change his mind and decide to go to Alabama. He also failed to eat humble pie after and admit that getting an Auburn tattoo was a bit rash or something he regrets after changing his commitment to Alabama.

In a great change of direction, Foster sent an apology letter on Sunday to all NFL teams for his behavior this weekend.

Now, whether this was under direction from his agent or not, it’s a great sign that Foster is willing to acknowledge his mistakes and attempt to correct those mistakes.

It will be interesting to see what kind of positive impact Foster can still have with NFL teams leading up to the draft and how he’ll work on trying to change some perceptions and narratives that have started to take shape involving him.

TWEETABLE

Everything can't be a product made for fan consumption.
— Michael Felder (@InTheBleachers) March 4, 2017

I'm confused by all the Fournette coverage. Is 4.51 not great for a man that is 240 lbs?
— David Pollack (@davidpollack47) March 4, 2017

John Ross about to break the internet. 4.22 unofficial
— Colleen Wolfe (@ColleenWolfe) March 4, 2017

Advanced stats: John Ross is fast.
— PFF College (@PFF_College) March 4, 2017

QUOTABLE

"“I control the controllable’s and I’m pretty much effective wherever I’m going to be put. I don’t have a lot of tape at safety but I’m a pretty damn good safety.”"

Jabrill Peppers via the Detroit Free Press

"The combine is big. It’s huge. At first I was uptight. I was like, ‘man, I have to do great.’ but as far as performing, this is what I do.”"

Marshonn Lattimore via Draft Diaries

"“When politics were heating up in our country with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton he just said, ‘We support no cause, foreign or domestic, except for the advancement of Michigan football.’”"

Ryan Glasgow explaining a Jim Harbaugh quote

"“We’ve suffered penalties. And this recruiting class, it was a penalty to be under the cloud we’re under.”"

Hugh Freeze

5 MUST-READS

Connecticut’s Noel Thomas hopes to prove himself at NFL Combine | “Thomas had a productive final season for the Huskies, catching 100 passes for 1,179 yards and three touchdowns during his senior year. That production was enough for Thomas to get invited to Indianapolis this week, and he couldn’t be more excited.”

John Ross saved himself a giant headache by not winning an island | “You see, my friends, owning one’s own island is something to avoid. And for an NFL receiver, it’s tantamount to putting a target on one’s back and letting the stodgy sportswriters take aim.”

Jabrill Peppers: I’m a pretty damn good safety | “Peppers said that the NFL put him at the position he most recently played in college. He treated the last two months as if he’d be playing safety, which led to his agent requesting that he get to work out with both position groups.”

NFL Combine: Whose Stock Is Up And Whose Stock Is Down? | “It’s still pretty early at the Combine, but here some reactions from folks inside the NFL on the action here after two days of workouts.”

Jim McElwain seeks QB to fix Florida offense | “The key to the kind of improvement McElwain and his constituents desire is developing a quarterback. The Gators have been snakebit at the position since Tim Tebow left following the ’09 season.”

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