Football

49ers’ Foster will not stand trial — A Santa Clara County judge ruled Wednesday that San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster will not have to stand trial on domestic violence charges after determining there was no evidence that Foster ever hit his ex-girlfriend. Judge Nona Klippen said prosecutors did not meet the burden of probable cause on charges of felony domestic violence and forcefully attempting to dissuade a witness. Foster was also charged with felony possession of an assault weapon after officers found a Sig Sauer 516 short-barreled rifle in his home while investigating his ex-girlfriend’s domestic violence report. That charge was reduced to a misdemeanor. The 49ers have not allowed Foster to take part in the offseason program while he dealt with these charges and general manager John Lynch had said he would be cut from the team if it was determined that he hit a woman. Foster will be allowed back Thursday.

Billy Cannon, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner, dies — Billy Cannon, a charismatic college and professional football hero whose world came crashing down when he went to prison for counterfeiting, died Friday at his home in St. Francisville, Louisiana. He was 80. His death was announced by Louisiana State University, where he had been an All-American halfback. The university did not specify the cause. For much of Cannon’s life, he was a hero for the ages. When he won the 1959 Heisman Trophy as the nation’s outstanding college player — he remains LSU’s only Heisman winner — it was presented by Richard Nixon, then the vice president. Cannon then spent 11 years as a pro, the first five as a running back and the rest as a tight end. In those offseasons, he earned a degree in dentistry. He became an orthodontist and a real estate developer in Baton Rouge, the home of the university. In February 1983, Cannon was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. But everything changed when he was linked to an operation that had printed almost $5 million in counterfeit bills. In an agreement with prosecutors, Cannon pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy and possession of counterfeit $100 bills and agreed to cooperate in the investigation. That August, he was sentenced to five years in prison. In September 1987, after four years in prison and a halfway house, he was released and reopened his dental practice. Cannon’s involvement in counterfeiting was tied to gambling debts, bad business investments and questionable friends, and at the time of his arrest he was involved in almost 40 financial lawsuits. He never explained his role in the counterfeiting, saying only: “I took a shot. It didn’t work.”

— From wire reports