Aldon Smith's Brain Sent to BU for CTE Testing
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- Aldon Smith's family is sending his brain to the Boston University CTE Center to test for chronic traumatic encephalopathy following his death Saturday at age 36, with no cause of death yet given.
- Smith's family hired attorneys Harry Daniels, Bakari Sellers, and Wayne Kendall, who said they intend to 'get to the bottom' of his death and have also authorized examination for 'other damage caused by years of concussions and additional trauma.'
- Smith set a 49ers franchise record with 19.5 sacks in 2012 after bursting onto the scene as a 2011 rookie with 14 sacks and 27 quarterback hits, earning Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors.
- Smith's career collapsed amid 10 arrests in nine years, including three DUIs and a felony weapons possession charge, leading to a nine-game NFL suspension in 2014 and his release by the 49ers in August 2015.
- The 49ers cut Smith the day after he was arrested on hit-and-run, DUI, and vandalism charges; he later played for the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, with his final NFL appearance on Nov. 1, 2020.
- Smith's last comeback attempt with the Seattle Seahawks in 2021 ended with a second-degree battery charge in Louisiana, and the team waived him on Aug. 11, 2021.
- In 2024, Smith launched a mentorship initiative called 'I.M. Loading' to help young athletes adjust to the pressures and pitfalls of a high-profile sports career.
Why it matters: Smith's CTE examination adds to a growing list of former NFL players whose post-mortem brain studies have linked repetitive head trauma to degenerative disease. With 10 arrests, multiple DUIs, and repeated substance-abuse suspensions on his record, his family's explicit reference to 'years of concussions and additional trauma' frames this as another potential data point in football's brain-injury crisis.
