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He would not get that chance.<\/p>\n
Smith was drafted by the 49ers with the No. 7 overall pick in 2011 and quickly emerged as a premier pass rusher with 14 sacks as Rookie of the Year runner-up. He then posted 19.5 sacks\u00a0\u2014 still the 49ers\u2019 single-season franchise record\u00a0\u2014 in 2012 and earned first-team All-Pro honors along with a Pro Bowl nod. He appeared on track for stardom as one of the best young players in the league.<\/p>\n
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Over the next nine years, Smith was arrested 10 times. Substance abuse was a common thread. Multiple suspensions kept him sidelined for four-plus years before the NFL reinstated him in 2020. Smith recorded five sacks during that season, his last in the league, with the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n
He previously lived in Texas, but returned to the Bay Area recently as he struggled financially, Shirazi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis only problem, and it\u2019s true with a lot of athletes, is he made a lot of money and they lose control of themselves,\u201d he said. \u201cYou give a bunch of guys in their 20s a lot of money and they lose it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
San Francsico 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith during a game against the Seattle Seahawks at Candlestick Park on Oct. 18, 2012.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
According to a league source, Smith as recently as last week stopped by Levi\u2019s Stadium to talk to the 49ers\u2019 newest rookies, who tend to stick around for a week or two after the end of organized team activities for training and development.<\/p>\n
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Shirazi, a 48-year-old businessman, said he befriended former 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis during his playing days, and soon became close with a number of 49ers from around 2010-15, including running back Frank Gore and Smith. Shirazi has kept in touch with many after their playing days ended.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Shirazi picked up Smith and the pair delivered 10 Little Caesars pizzas to Scott Wagers, the co-founder of CHAM Deliverance Ministry, a local charity that feeds the homeless. Wagers, who had never met Smith, had no idea the former NFL star would be there and was excited. Smith wore a throwback New York Knicks jersey (Willis Reed\u2019s No. 19), blue shorts and a pair of Air Jordan shoes, posing for a few photos for Wagers.<\/p>\n
But Wagers sensed something may have been off that morning, he told the Chronicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe got out of the car and he looked maybe kind of tired,\u201d Wagers said, \u201cbut he\u2019s a giant man. I\u2019m like, \u2018Hey man, are you good? Are you good? \u2019 and I said, \u2018Can I take some pictures? \u2019 So we took some pictures, we got the pizzas with my team, and we went and took all the pizza out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
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From left, former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith, pastor Scott Wagers and Amir Shirazi pose for a photo on Saturday. Smith died later that day at age 36.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Scott Wagers<\/p>\n
Despite Smith\u2019s \u201clethargic\u201d look, Wagers was grateful.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMy impression was that this is a young man that wanted to help the homeless, which was great,\u201d Wagers said. \u201cWhen the 49ers and people like that want to help the community, that\u2019s everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair left and Shirazi drove them to a grocery store, his gas station Moe\u2019s Stop in San Jose and then his house in Los Gatos.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were joking about life and talking about stuff right before,\u201d Shirazi said of the drive.<\/p>\n
At the house, Shirazi ran inside to turn on some lights and returned to his pickup to find Smith slumped over.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was perfectly fine an hour before,\u201d Shirazi said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI came out and he was basically dead in my front seat,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just in shock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paramedics took Smith to Good Samaritan Hospital where he was declared dead at 12:46 p.m., according to Michelle Jorden, the county\u2019s chief medical examiner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Office of the Medical Examiner is confirming the death of 36-year-old Aldon Jacarus Ramon Smith, who died today June 13, 2026,\u201d Jorden wrote in a statement. \u201cThe Medical Examiner is investigating his death, and no further information is available at this time. The cause and manner of death are pending.\u201d<\/p>\n
A toxicology exam could take weeks or months.<\/p>\n
Despite Smith\u2019s past history of substance abuse, Shirazi said he thought it was a \u201cnatural death.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had not seen Smith use drugs Saturday and had only seen him smoking marijuana occasionally over the years. Shirazi said he thought it might have been a massive heart attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a very sweet, caring, loving giant,\u201d Shirazi said. \u201cThat if you really knew him, you\u2019d know who he truly is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Word of Smith\u2019s death spread fast in the South Bay, the 49ers headquarters only a 15-mile drive away from the hospital.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Good Samaritan hospital in San Jose on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Nic Coury\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are devastated by the sudden and tragic passing of Aldon Smith,\u201d the 49ers wrote in a statement. \u201cAldon\u2019s undeniable talent and sheer dominance on the field were on display from the moment he joined our organization, having recorded one of the best rookie seasons the National Football League has seen. Beyond his excellence as a player, Aldon will be remembered for his infectious smile that lit up every room he walked into. Our entire organization sends its deepest condolences to the Smith family and all who knew and loved Aldon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith\u2019s troubles often came linked to alcohol.<\/p>\n
Smith was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in January 2012; the charge was later reduced to reckless driving. He was then charged that same year with three felony counts of illegal possession of an assault weapon at a June party, where he suffered stab wounds, shots were fired, and multiple others were injured; those charges were later reduced to misdemeanors.<\/p>\n
Smith was arrested again on suspicion of DUI and possession of marijuana in September 2013, subsequently volunteering to enter a rehabilitation facility and missing five games that season.<\/p>\n
The NFL also suspended Smith for the first nine games of the 2014 season for violating the league\u2019s substance-abuse and personal-conduct policies, which tied back to the 2013 arrest.<\/p>\n
The 49ers released Smith in August 2015 a day after he was arrested on charges that included an alleged hit and run, DUI and vandalism. The Oakland Raiders signed him a month later and he played nine games, only for NFL suspensions to sideline him for the next seven games, and four seasons thereafter, amid mounting legal troubles.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Aldon Smith runs onto the field as the 49ers are introduced before playing the Packers on Sept. 8, 2013 at Candlestick Park.<\/p>\n
Carlos Avila Gonzalez\/The Chronicle<\/p>\n
In March 2018, the Raiders released Smith without explanation. A couple days later, he turned himself in and was booked on domestic violence charges.<\/p>\n
The NFL conditionally reinstated him in 2020. After a season with the Dallas Cowboys, he signed with the Seahawks in 2021 but soon after was arrested on a second-degree battery charge. Seattle\u00a0released him that August, and he was sentenced to a year in jail in April 2023.<\/p>\n
At age 36 and financially in dire straits, Smith was still almost two decades away from drawing an NFL pension.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, he planned to watch the\u00a0Knicks in the NBA Finals that night with his friend. He would die in his jersey.<\/p>\n
Staff writer Sara DiNatale contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco 49ers’ Aldon Smith sits on bench in final minutes of 34-0 loss to Denver Broncos during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,13441,560,99],"class_list":["post-703745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-obituary","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}