Aldon Smith had no business being as good as he was. Seventh pick in the 2011 draft. Fourteen sacks as a rookie, second most in NFL history. Then, 19.5, the very next year, a 49ers franchise record that still stands. He reached 30 career sacks faster than any player in NFL history, breaking a record held by Reggie White. He was 22 years old. He played in a Super Bowl. He was supposed to be generational.
He was 36 when he died on Saturday.
Aldon Smith died at 36, trying to turn his life around - What Aldon Smith did on his last day alive?
Smith was found unresponsive in the front passenger seat of his friend Amir Shirazi's white Chevy pickup, outside Shirazi's home in Los Gatos, California. He was declared dead at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose at 12:46 p.m. Cause of death is pending investigation by the Santa Clara County medical examiner. He had no idea that morning would be his last.
A few hours before he died, Smith and Shirazi had been out making a pizza run, not for themselves. The pair delivered ten Little Caesars pizzas to Scott Wagers, co-founder of CHAM Deliverance Ministry, a local charity that feeds the homeless. Wagers had never met Smith. He had no idea the former NFL star was coming. Smith showed up in a Willis Reed throwback jersey, blue shorts, and Air Jordans, took a few photos, unloaded the pizzas, and left. Wagers told the San Francisco Chronicle that Smith seemed maybe a little tired, but he was warm, present, giving.
After the delivery, Shirazi drove them to a grocery store and a gas station. They were joking, talking, just hanging out. Then Shirazi stepped inside his house to turn on some lights. He came back out and found Smith slumped over in the passenger seat, mouth open, his massive frame slightly twitching. Shirazi called 911 and reached former 49ers running back Anthony Dixon to help him perform CPR. Less than an hour later, Smith was gone.
Why are fans not buying his friend's story?
Within hours of the news breaking, X was doing what X does. Fans began picking apart the details of Shirazi's account - the timeline, the reason for going inside to turn on lights, the decision to call Anthony Dixon before or alongside 911. One widely shared observation was that a photo from the charity visit appeared to show nine pizza boxes, not the ten Shirazi mentioned. Others questioned Shirazi's character outright, with some accounts calling him untrustworthy and an addict.
The numbers Smith put up in his first two NFL seasons, 33.5 sacks, which remain the most by any player in their first two years in league history. But the rest of his career is a chronicle of what was lost. Multiple DUI arrests. A voluntary stint in rehab in 2013. A nine-game suspension in 2014. Released by the 49ers in 2015 after his third DUI. Suspended again after signing with the Raiders. Four years out of the NFL entirely.
He came back in 2020 with the Cowboys with 16 starts, 5 sacks, and a full season. Then an arrest derailed a Seahawks stint before it could begin, and that was it. He finished with 52.5 career sacks across 75 games. Given even a fraction of the time that should have been his, that number could have been historic in a completely different way.
The 49ers released a statement Saturday calling his passing "sudden and tragic" and remembering him for his "infectious smile that lit up every room." Shirazi said it simply: "He was perfectly fine an hour before. I came out, and he was basically dead in my front seat."
