Former Saints player Glenn Foster dies at 31 days after Alabama arrest

Former New Orleans Saints defensive end Glenn Foster died on Monday, a day after being held in police custody in Alabama. He was 31 years old.

The Pickens County, Alabama Medical Examiner and Coroner’s Office confirmed his death to New Orleans media on Tuesday. Coroner Chad Harless told WWL 4 that his office was in possession of Foster’s body and that an autopsy was pending.

The cause of death is unclear. Harless declined to address the circumstances of Foster’s death including where it happened, citing a pending investigation. The Pickens County Sheriff’s office declined comment and referred local media to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation, which had yet to provide comment as of Tuesday afternoon.

Pickens County Sheriff’s Office records on Tuesday showed two booking dates for Foster. The first is at 12:36 a.m. on Saturday on charges of reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and attempt to elude. That record shows a release time of 3:14 p.m. on Sunday.

The second booking record indicates that Foster was booked again at 3:16 p.m. on Sunday on charges of simple assault and robbery in the third degree, two minutes after the release listed on the prior booking record. That record shows a release time of 2:25 p.m. on Tuesday, a day after his death.

With officials declining to comment as of Tuesday afternoon, the reason for the timeline discrepancy isn’t clear. Nor is it clear whether Foster was in custody when he died.

Foster's family preparing a statement

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that Foster’s wife and parents were preparing a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Foster played two seasons for the New Orleans Saints from 2013-14 after playing college football at Illinois. He was born in Chicago and played football at Chicago’s Mount Carmel High School.

Illinois state Rep. Kim Buckner paid tribute to Foster Tuesday morning on Twitter in one of the first public acknowledgments that Foster had died.

Saints tackle and former teammate Terron Armstead paid tribute on Twitter Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Times-PIcayune, Foster remained in New Orleans after his release by the Saints in 2015 and worked as a contractor, developer and real estate agent while running a granite countertop business with multiple storefronts in the city.