Alabama’s Reuben Foster Credits His Fraternity With Turning Him Into The Best LB In America

Jared Borislow9 years ago

Many college athletes are barred from joining fraternities, which makes sense. Unlike some suburban house mom not letting her little Jimmy join Phi Tau at Muhlenberg College after uttering the incredibly ill-informed statement “I don’t want you turning into one of those University of Virginia Phi Whatever rapers!,” college coaches just want to make sure their players 1) have more time to focus on both academics and athletics, and 2) form an ad hoc fraternity with their teammates so as to increase team chemistry and accountability.

Every so often, however, a coach will grant permission for an athlete to don Greek letters. And in Reuben Foster’s case, it is what elevated him from the best high school linebacker in America to the best college linebacker in America.

From FOX Sports:

“Everything changed when I pledged Omega,” Foster said at Tuesday’s Peach Bowl press conference. “I had to learn about all the history about Omega Psi Phi. I was like, ‘Dang, I’m learning all this but I can’t learn this defense?!’ I said I might as well go ahead and take the chance and really learn this with the ins and outs of the defense. That’s how it clicked when I pledged. Then I had to learn our history and our defense. After that, it was easy.”

With all the awful press that the pledge process gets, it’s unbelievably refreshing to see a widely reported story highlighting the good that a structured pre-initiation process can do. It’s not all paddled asses and clothes hanger brands and square-shaped things shoved up circle-shaped b-holes. There’s a purpose to it, and that purpose is personal and interpersonal development. And also maybe Foster got better at tackling after practicing on pledges post-initiation. Who knows?.

[via FOX Sports]

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