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Alabama LB leaving mark

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Reuben Foster arrived at Alabama as a coveted prospect with an Auburn tattoo. He’ll leave having made another kind of mark.

The top-ranked Crimson Tide middle linebacker worked his way up gradually from hard-hitting special teamer to starting inside linebacker and now to a unanimous All-American , Butkus Award winner and highly regarded NFL prospect.

It’s not the easiest or quickest path to stardom for one of the nation’s top recruits, who has become one of the Tide’s biggest stars heading into Monday night’s national championship game against No. 3 Clemson in Tampa, Florida.

Even his own teammates seem impressed by the hard-hitting Foster, whose 103 tackles is 27 more than anybody else on the nation’s top defense.

“A true beast,” said Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley, adding that he wouldn’t want to get hit by him.

“Everybody’s running to the ball but you just see him like flying past everybody,” defensive tackle Da’Ron Payne said.

Foster had to battle his way to this point after arriving from Auburn High School, where he had once committed to Tide rival Auburn.

He had the Auburn tattoo on his right forearm changed to honor his cousin, former Auburn player Ladarious Phillips, who died after being shot at an off-campus apartment.

Predictably, the college switch drew some heat from folks in Auburn, especially when it took Foster two seasons to work his way into the starting lineup. Now, he’s the primary play caller and joins defensive end Jonathan Allen as Alabama’s biggest defensive stars.

Foster said he got serious about mastering the defense after joining the fraternity Omega Psi Phi in 2015.

“Everything changed when I pledged Omega,” Foster said. “I had to learn about all the history of 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, the ins and outs of the defense.”

The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder also dropped some 20 pounds during the offseason with the help of team nutritionist Amy Bragg. Bragg would send him daily text messages and gave him a list of things not to eat but she also took a more hands-on role during some mealtimes.

“She’d fix my plate for me,” Foster said. “She knows I’m a momma’s boy. If I fix my plate, I won’t eat it. But if she fixes up my plate, she’ll fix it up nice.”

He has followed in a succession of star middle linebackers from Rolando McClain and Dont’a Hightower to C.J. Mosley and Reggie Ragland, three NFL first-round picks and a second-rounder.

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