SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The family of former NFL defensive star Aldon Smith has sent his brain to the Boston University CTE Center, where researchers will study the long-term impact of repeated head trauma, following his unexpected death at just 36 years old.
Smith passed away Saturday, just hours after he had delivered pizzas to a homeless charity in the San Francisco Bay area. No official cause of death has been released.
His family has brought on attorneys Harry Daniels, Bakari Sellers, and Wayne Kendall to look into the circumstances of his death. In a statement issued Tuesday, the legal team said: “As with anyone who dies so suddenly at such a young age, we understand that there is a great deal of interest in and speculation about Aldon Smith’s passing and we intend to get to the bottom of it. To that end, we have taken a number of steps including sending his brain to Boston where medical experts will examine it for CTE as well as other damage caused by years of concussions and additional trauma.”
The attorneys also asked the public to “keep Aldon’s family in our prayers and respect their privacy as they struggle to come to grips with this terrible loss.”
According to Smith’s friend Amir Shirazi, who spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle, he discovered Smith slumped over in the front passenger seat of a vehicle after the pizza delivery on Saturday. Smith was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Former teammate Anthony Dixon paid tribute on social media, writing: “He was a creative mind, so smart, so fierce, so real, so powerful, his presence, his passion and his aura meant a lot to me as a brother and I wish I could’ve did more to help him and pray to God he doesn’t have to hurt anymore.”
Smith entered the league when San Francisco selected him seventh overall out of Missouri in the 2011 NFL Draft. He made an immediate splash, helping the 49ers end a playoff drought and advance to the NFC Championship Game in each of his first three seasons, including one Super Bowl appearance.
As a rookie, Smith recorded 14 sacks and finished as the runner-up to Von Miller in AP Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. The following year, he set a franchise record with 19 and a half sacks and earned first-team All-Pro honors. His combined 33 and a half sacks across his first two seasons remain the most in NFL history.
Smith continued that dominance into 2013, posting four and a half sacks in the first three games before off-field troubles began to mount. A DUI arrest and a stint in rehab for substance abuse cost him five games that season.
San Francisco released him in August 2015 following a fifth arrest in three years — another drunk driving charge. He signed with Oakland shortly before the 2015 season kicked off and recorded three and a half sacks in nine games before facing another suspension.
Smith sought reinstatement to the NFL in 2016 but was initially denied. Oakland released him in 2018 after a domestic violence arrest, though a plea agreement was later reached in that case.
He was ultimately reinstated in 2020 and played all 16 games for Dallas that year, contributing five sacks. He signed with Seattle the following season but was arrested again on a battery charge and released during training camp. In 2023, he served a six-month jail sentence for DUI and never returned to the NFL.
Smith wrapped up his professional career with 52 and a half sacks across 75 games.
