Last Thursday night, now-former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith was arrested for the fifth time for allegedly committing a hit-and-run, vandalism and driving under the influence. The Niners had enough of Smith’s run-ins with the law and released him on Friday, with head coach Jim Tomsula giving a passionate statement to the media about how much the team has tried to help Smith and how much help they are still willing to give him.
Tomsula said, in part, that, “Although he won’t be playing football for the San Francisco 49ers, he will be supported and helped and he will not have to walk this path alone. That comes from our ownership down. He will not have to walk this path alone.”
Smith’s arrest record dates back to 2012, when he was charged with DUI in January of that year. He was stabbed at a house party in June of that same year, and also picked up felony assault weapons charges that were later reduced to misdemeanors. A 2013 DUI arrest led to Smith spending time in a rehabilitation facility, and it also resulted in a five-game absence that season. And while an incident at Los Angeles International Airport involving a bomb threat led to all charges being dropped, the NFL suspended him for nine games of the 2014 season for personal conduct policy and substances of abuse policy violations.
All told, Smith has played in just 18 games over the last two years as a result of his behavior. And it’s behavior the 49ers have been invested in changing for years. Smith isn’t a marginal player—he’s one of the best pass-rushers in the game, when his mind is on right and he’s focused on his job. He had 14 sacks in 2011, and 19.5 in 2012, before suspensions and other distractions cut into his productivity, leading him to total 8.5 sacks in 2013 and only two last year.
But as 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said on Friday: “This isn’t about football. Everyone wants to make this about football. This has nothing to do with football right now. It has everything to do with a human being and a quality, quality person. But he’s made some mistakes.”
And that’s why it’s ridiculous to try to connect the free agent Smith to any other NFL team right now. In fact, it feels ridiculous to even qualify Smith’s name with a myopic, football-laden term like “free agency.” What Smith needs, as Tomsula and Baalke have been so adamant about, is help. He doesn’t need football. He doesn’t need to be signed by a team like the New York Giants, who the Huffington Post’s Jordan Schultz pegged over the weekend as having interest:
There is interest in Aldon Smith from several NFL teams, notably NY Giants. But what’s really important is a life spiraling out of control.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 10, 2015
Giants in desperate need of a pass rusher, given JPP is out. Defense needs someone to really set the edge. Aldon Smith does precisely that.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 10, 2015
Meanwhile, Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole says that the Giants are among “at least” three teams who have some degree of interest in Smith. Guess what? The Giants do need someone to set the edge and rush the passer, especially with Jason Pierre Paul still recovering from July’s fireworks accident and has yet to rejoin his team and sign his franchise tag. But Smith isn’t that someone—and shouldn’t be that someone for any team.
This should be a time for Smith to focus on himself, on his problems and to sort his priorities without having to consider football as one of them. It’s clear that whatever stellar on-field talent he has has been subsumed to his issues, whether they are ones of impulse control, addiction, mental illness or whatever has caused his behavior over the last three years. Until and unless these can be addressed and solved, Smith won’t be an asset to any team that would have him. And any team that would have him should recognize this and back off.
The needs of a football team should never outweigh the personal, private needs of the players. Sometimes, a player in trouble finds football to be redemptive, and this may be the case for Smith down the line. But right now, Smith has to focus on himself. It’s simply disrespectful to think of Smith in a football context when so much in his personal life needs addressed first.