Doug Williams apologizes for 'insensitive' remarks he made to justify Redskins claiming Reuben Foster
Williams said on Thursday that the Redskins claiming Foster was 'small potatoes'
One day after he defended their decision to acquire Reuben Foster by calling the move "small potatoes," Redskins senior vice president of player personnel Doug Williams apologized for what he described as "insensitive" comments.
On Tuesday, the Redskins claimed Foster even though he was arrested a week ago in an alleged domestic violence incident that led to his prompt dismissal from the 49ers on Sunday morning. It wasn't Foster's first troubling incident away from the field. In May, Foster had domestic violence charges against him dismissed. In June, the NFL suspended Foster two games for weapons and drug offenses. There was also an incident at the combine in 2017 before San Francisco went on to draft him near the end of the first round. Now, Foster is facing another domestic violence charge.
At the time of his acquisition, the Redskins released a statement in which Williams said, "Nothing is promised to Reuben, but we are hopeful being around so many of his former teammates and friends will eventually provide him with the best possible environment to succeed both personally and professionally." On Thursday, during Williams' weekly radio spot, he continued to defend the move with comments he would apologize for 24 hours later.
Williams on the blowback: "Basically what you’re doing here is you’re taking a high-risk chance. The high risk was the beat-up that we’re going to take from PR. We understood that from a PR standpoint, and we’re taking it."
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) November 29, 2018
Williams on the larger moment: "“We’ve got people who are in high, high, high, high places that have done far worse, and if you look at it realistically, they’re still up there,” he said. “This is small potatoes [compared to] a lot of things out there."
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) November 29, 2018
Speaking from the podium in front of reporters on Friday, Williams didn't take any questions, but he did provide another statement. This one came in the form of an apology.
"First of all, I want to apologize to the organization, my wife, my mom, my sisters, and the six daughters that I have," Williams said. "So, last night or so been real tough on me from an emotional standpoint because never in my life did I say anything so insensitive as I've said. I'm not going to sit here and make excuses because there are no excuses.
"There's not a lot to say -- no more than the fact that, if you know me, you would understand, growing up, I understand the climate and what's going on. For me to make comments like I did, I want to apologize to anybody out there within earshot, especially the ladies of this area, across the country. Like I said, I've got six daughters that no way in the world I would tolerate anything like that. So for me to just say something like that, I just want to apologize."
Doug Williams just made this statement unannounced. He did not take questions. pic.twitter.com/qR9ANNajhT
— Craig Hoffman (@CraigHoffman) November 30, 2018
When he's been eligible to play, Foster has been one of the best young defensive players in football, which is clearly why the Redskins decided to claim him even though they had to have known they'd face serious backlash for that decision. According to USA Today, the Redskins didn't speak with police before signing him. Instead, the Redskins relied on some -- but not all -- of Foster's teammates from his Alabama days to vouch for him.
It's still not clear if Foster will ever play in a game for the Redskins. The NFL placed Foster on the commissioner's exempt list, which means he's not eligible to play in games or participate at practice.
















