Santa Clara – One reason linebacker Reuben Foster dropped in the draft were, reportedly, his pre-draft interviews. But according to 49ers general manager John Lynch, Foster aced his interview with Lynch and his scouts. Lynch was convinced Foster would be a good player after he asked one simple question.
“Tell me what you love about football?”
“I’ll never forget Reuben Foster when we sat across (from him at the combine),” Lynch said. “He couldn’t really communicate, but his posture changed, he stood up, and he got a big smile on his face and everybody in the room had goose bumps on their arms.”
One of Bill Belichick’s key assessments of any draft-eligible player is how much they love the game. When he played in Tampa Bay, Lynch said then Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden cornered players in the hallway and asked, “Hey, do you like football? Do you love it?”
Lynch has adopted that and taken it one step further.
“What I’ve found is, tell me why you like football,” Lynch said. “We want guys to love this, because I know the commitment it takes. … It’s hard on your body, it’s hard mentally. You have to love it. You have to be physically and mentally tough and so those are the traits that we’re looking for.”
Since missing the Oct. 29 game in Philly because of ankle and rib injuries, Foster’s been a revelation, making 20 tackles since his return and most of those at or just past the line of scrimmage. Also moving to outside linebacker from the middle has helped him.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said Foster would eventually return to the middle, however, the middle linebacker is also the defensive play-caller with a listening device in the helmet to hear the call from the defensive coordinator. Because he’s still learning, Foster gave up that responsibility to Brock Coyle.
Foster passed the test on what he loves about the game. For him, there will be other things to learn very soon.