Former San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders defensive end Aldon Smith died on June 14 at age 36 in the Bay Area, found unresponsive in his truck by a friend after he had spent the evening delivering food to a homeless charity in California.

Smith was selected seventh overall in the 2011 NFL Draft and immediately established himself as one of the most talented pass rushers in the league. As a rookie, he recorded 14 sacks and finished second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. His 2012 season produced 19.5 sacks, earning him Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors and placing him alongside the best edge defenders in football at just 23 years old.

His career never reached the heights those early seasons promised. Off-field legal issues, DUI arrests and a substance abuse suspension reduced his playing time significantly, and he last appeared in the NFL in 2020 with the Las Vegas Raiders. In 2024 he had begun working on a mentorship project called I.M. Loading, standing for Intelligent Movement, aimed at helping young athletes navigate recovery from addiction and personal struggles — a reflection of what he had worked through himself.

His family has hired civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels, Bakari Sellers and Wayne Kendall to lead an independent investigation into the circumstances of his death and has donated his brain to CTE research. CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, is a degenerative brain condition linked to repeated head impacts in contact sports. The family said they want answers about whether his years in professional football contributed to his death at 36.

The San Francisco 49ers issued a statement mourning his passing. Smith remains the franchise’s single-season sack record holder and one of the most statistically dominant young defenders the team ever fielded. His death follows a pattern of former NFL players dying young under circumstances that raise questions about the long-term effects of the sport. The full investigation is being coordinated through his family’s legal team. The ESPN report on CTE testing covers the family’s next steps. Smith’s case joins a growing body of research — the Tropical Storm Arthur deaths and the FDA food safety recall were among the other major US safety stories this week.

Aldon Smith was 36. He was, at his best, one of the most gifted pass rushers the NFL had seen in a decade. His family is asking the questions that come after a life that ran out of time before anyone was ready for it to end.