Former Missouri Tigers defensive end, Aldon Smith, was re-instated to play for the San Francisco 49ers today after serving a nine game suspension for off the field issues. Smith has been one of the most dominating pass rushers in the NFL since he first stepped foot on the field. He has an uncanny record of 42 sacks in 43 career games which goes to show how talented the young man is.
However, Smith hasn’t been able to stay out of trouble, which has tarnished his reputation. It all started in early September of 2012, when his name was brought up in a lawsuit over a shooting at his house party. A couple days later, his name was brought up again in another lawsuit concerning the same party.
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Then, barely two weeks after his name is brought up in these lawsuits, he’s arrested for DUI and suspicion of Marijuana. Mind you, all of this is happening within weeks of one another and just when you think it couldn’t get worse, it does.
Two weeks after his arrest, the DA announces that Smith would be facing felony weapon charges and misdemeanor DUI charges. Twenty-one days later, Smith turns himself in and immediately posts his $75,000 bail. So after all of this, Smith seemed poised and ready to get back on the football field and make a difference there.
Well, in April of this year, Smith was selected for a second random screening at Los Angeles airport (LAX) when he became “became belligerent and uncooperative with the process.” Police say he made a comment “indicating he was in posession of a bomb” at which point LA Airport Police was taken into custody.
On July 18th this year, Smith was sentenced to 11 days jail time and a work release program that would reduce his weapons charges to misdemeanors and also clear him of his DUI charges. On August 29th, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Smith for the first 9 games and here we are.
Smith hasn’t practiced or been with the team since the preseason, so it’s unclear how much playing time he will actually see in his first game back. San Francisco head coach, Jim Harbaugh spoke to the media this morning about his re-instatement,
"“[H]e’s eligible to play and to practice,” coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters on Monday. “Very much look forward to that. There’s consequences for our actions — good and bad. Good consequences for good action. And there’s accountability. He has served that. He has done that. Look forward to moving forward in a fresh, clean slate.”"
Smith has been racking up the Charges and negativity as fast as he did the sacks over the last three seasons and is walking on thin ice. If he finds himself in any more trouble, he could quickly find himself in a year long suspension and off an NFL roster.
Hopefully the young man has learned from his mistakes and is ready to just focus on the game he knows and plays so well. He’s a special player that can do big things in the NFL, so long as he keeps doing the little things off the field.