Aldon Smith

Aldon Jacarus Ramon Smith was born on September 25, 1989, in Greenwood, Mississippi, to Kembrya Smith and Thurston Smith. His family obituary describes parents who were "very young" when he was born and a journey that "carried him from Mississippi to Iowa" and later to Missouri, while Mississippi remained home in his heart.

At 13 he was baptised at Covenant Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where, as an active "covenant kid," he learned service and leadership, according to the obituary. He grew up with a sister, Rhia Janay Smith, and a close circle of aunts who were described as second mothers.

Smith attended Raytown High School in Raytown, Missouri, where he played football and basketball. As a senior on the Raytown Bluejays he played defensive end and tight end, and he was regarded as one of the top prospects in Missouri, although Rivals rated him a three-star recruit.

He enrolled at the University of Missouri in 2008 and redshirted his first year. In 2009 he started 11 of 13 games at defensive end, recording 60 tackles and 11 sacks, and was named Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year and a first-team Freshman All-American. In 2010 he played nine games, with 48 tackles and six sacks, and earned first-team All-Big 12 recognition. He gave up his final two years of eligibility to enter the 2011 NFL draft.

San Francisco 49ers (2011 to 2014). Selected seventh overall in the 2011 NFL draft, Smith became the first 49ers player since Patrick Willis to be named NFL Rookie of the Month and finished his rookie season with 14 sacks without a single start, a franchise rookie record. He was runner-up to Von Miller for AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and won the PFWA award.

In 2012 he started all 16 games and recorded 19.5 sacks, the 49ers single-season record, including 5.5 sacks against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. He reached 30 career sacks in 27 games, faster than anyone in NFL history, and his 33.5 sacks in his first two seasons remain an NFL record. He was first-team All-Pro, a Pro Bowl pick and team MVP, and played in Super Bowl XLVII. NFL Network ranked him seventh on its Top 100 Players of 2013.

In 2013 he missed five games while in rehabilitation, yet still had 8.5 sacks and added 2.5 sacks, including a strip-sack on the opening play, in the NFC Championship Game at Seattle. He served a nine-game suspension in 2014 and was released in August 2015.

Oakland Raiders (2015 to 2017). Smith signed with Oakland in September 2015 and had 3.5 sacks in nine games before a one-year league suspension in November 2015. He re-signed in April 2016 but was not reinstated and missed the 2016 and 2017 seasons. The Raiders released him in March 2018.

Dallas Cowboys (2020) and Seattle Seahawks (2021). Conditionally reinstated in May 2020, Smith started all 16 games for Dallas with 53 tackles and five sacks, and returned a fumble 78 yards for his only NFL touchdown. He signed with Seattle in April 2021 and was released in August. Career totals: 75 regular-season games, 228 tackles, 52.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and one interception, plus 5.5 sacks in eight playoff games.

Smith was never married. He had one son, Aulis Faustino Smith, who was 13 at the time of his father's death and was reported to be the sole heir to his estate. His family obituary says he loved animals, was protective of the people he cared about and treasured simple family moments that fame could not replace.

In his final years Smith was struggling financially, according to his friend Amir Shirazi, and stayed with friends in the Bay Area while waiting for his NFL pension. Shirazi described him as "a very sweet, caring, loving giant."

Smith was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist church and his family described him as a man of faith. He posted reflections on faith on social media, and after leaving jail in 2023 he spoke in interviews about what he had learned while incarcerated, about accountability and about finding a new purpose. ABC News reported that he launched an initiative to help young athletes navigate the pressures of a high-profile career.

On the field, Smith's first two seasons are among the most productive by any pass rusher in NFL history. He still holds the 49ers records for sacks in a season (19.5) and by a rookie (14), and the NFL records for the fastest player to 30 sacks and most sacks in a player's first two seasons.

His story is also often cited as a cautionary tale about addiction, mental health and the pressures on young athletes. His family's decision to donate his brain to the Boston University CTE Center added his case to the wider debate about head trauma in football.

First-team All-Pro (2012) Pro Bowl (2012 season) PFWA Defensive Rookie of the Year (2011) PFWA All-Rookie Team (2011) NFL Rookie of the Month (October 2011) NFC Defensive Player of the Week and NFC Defensive Player of the Month (November 2012) 49ers team MVP (2012) NFL Top 100 Players of 2013 (No. 7) First-team All-Big 12 (2010) Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year (2009) First-team Freshman All-American (2009)

After his 2023 release from jail Smith sat for long-form interviews, including with I AM ATHLETE, in which he discussed addiction, prison and rebuilding. Days before his death he appeared on Laced Up, a Bay Area barbershop interview series hosted by Tee Maultsby, where he spoke about gratitude, struggle and his bittersweet return to the Bay Area. Clips from that series were widely shared after he died.

ESPN counted 10 arrests in nine years. They included a DUI arrest in Miami Beach in January 2012; illegal weapon charges, later reduced to misdemeanours, linked to a 2012 party at his home where he was stabbed; a DUI arrest after a crash in San Jose in September 2013; an April 2014 incident at Los Angeles International Airport in which charges were dropped; an August 2015 hit-and-run and DUI arrest in Santa Clara, in which he later pleaded no contest to hit and run and was sentenced to 20 days in jail; a March 2018 domestic violence case involving his then fiancee; a 2019 DUI arrest in Kansas; a 2021 battery warrant in Louisiana; and a December 2021 DUI arrest in San Mateo County that led to a one-year jail sentence in 2023. The NFL suspended him for nine games in 2014 and indefinitely from November 2015 until a conditional reinstatement in 2020.

On Saturday, June 13, 2026, Smith helped his friend Amir Shirazi deliver pizzas to a homeless charity. When they returned to Shirazi's home, Shirazi went inside and came back to find Smith slumped and unresponsive in the front seat of his truck. "He was perfectly fine an hour before," Shirazi told the San Francisco Chronicle. Smith was pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose at 12:46 p.m., aged 36.

The Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner performed an autopsy and said the cause and manner of death were pending. No official cause of death has been made public. His family retained civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels, Bakari Sellers and Wayne Kendall and donated his brain to the Boston University CTE Center, saying he had suffered multiple concussions during his career. Funeral arrangements were handled by Oak Hill Funeral Home and Memorial Park in San Jose, and his family announced services at Cathedral of Faith in San Jose.