Aldon Smith's brain donated to CTE
Center as family's attorneys investigate his death at age 36
[June 17, 2026]
By JOSH DUBOW
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The family of former NFL star Aldon Smith is
donating his brain to the Boston University CTE Center to research
the long-term effects of repetitive brain injuries following his
sudden death at age 36.
Smith died Saturday hours after delivering pizzas to a homeless
charity in the San Francisco Bay area.
No cause of death was given and Smith's family has hired attorneys
Harry Daniels, Bakari Sellers and Wayne Kendall to investigate
Smith's death.
“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," the attorneys said in a statement released Tuesday. "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.
“In the meantime we simply ask you to keep Aldon’s family in our
prayers and respect their privacy as they struggle to come to grips
with this terrible loss.”
Smith’s friend, Amir Shirazi, told the San Francisco Chronicle, that
he found Smith slumped over in the front passenger seat of his car
after delivering the pizzas on Saturday. Smith was taken to a
hospital and was declared dead.
“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,” his former teammate, Anthony
Dixon, wrote on social media.
Smith was drafted by the 49ers with the seventh pick out of Missouri
in 2011 and made an immediate impact on the team, helping San
Francisco snap a playoff drought and reach the NFC title game his
first three seasons with one trip to a Super Bowl.
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San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith (99) watches from the
sideline during the second half of an NFL preseason football game
against the Denver Broncos Aug. 17, 2014, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP
Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
He had 14 sacks as a rookie when he finished second
to Von Miller in voting for the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and
had a franchise-record 19 1/2 sacks in 2012 when he was named a
first-team All-Pro.
His 33 1/2 sacks in his first two seasons are the
most in NFL history. He kept that pace up with 4 1/2 sacks in the
first three games in 2013 before the off-field issues started with
an arrest for DUI and a stint in rehab for substance abuse that
sidelined him for five games.
He was released by San Francisco in August 2015 after another
drunken driving charge — his fifth arrest in three years. He signed
with Oakland just before the start of the 2015 season and had 3 1/2
sacks in nine games before being suspended again.
Smith applied for reinstatement to the NFL in 2016, but was not
allowed back initially. The Raiders released him in 2018 following a
domestic violence arrest. A plea agreement was reached in that case.
He eventually was reinstated in 2020 and played 16 games for Dallas
that season and had five sacks.
He signed with Seattle the next season but was arrested again for
battery and was released in training camp. He served a six-month
jail sentence for DUI in 2023 and never played again in the NFL.
Smith finished his career with 52 1/2 sacks in 75 games.
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