In the wake of his sudden passing, the family of former NFL defensive end Aldon Smith has decided to send his brain to a medical research center in Boston to have it examined for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Smith died on Saturday at the age of 36, just hours after helping to deliver pizzas to a charity for the homeless. No cause of death has been released and his family has since hired a legal team to investigate.
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“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,” attorneys Harry Daniels, Bakari Sellers and Wayne Kendall said in a statement.
“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.”
Concussions are very common among NFL players, and they usually sustain several of them before retirement.
CTE is an degenerative brain disease that is most-commonly found in athletes participating in contact or combat sports. Repeated and long-term head trauma is the leading cause of the disease.
It can cause a number of severe symptoms like memory loss, trouble walking or moving, depression, weakened impulse control and relentless mood swings.
Currently, it can only be diagnosed after death.
Smith was drafted into the league by the San Francisco 49ers in 2011 and immediately became one of the league’s most promising young defensive players.
Just one year later, he set a single-season franchise record with 19.5 sacks while earning a Pro Bowl spot. But off-the-field issues quickly began to impact his career.
He missed more than four seasons over the next nine years due to various suspensions and was arrested on 10 occasions. He was suspended in 2015 after his third DUI and was eventually banned by the NFL.
Five years later, he was reinstated and played one more season for the Dallas Cowboys.
He later founded “I.M. Loading” in 2024, a program designed to give support and mentorship to young athletes who struggled to navigate a life of pressure and fame.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
