Aldon Smith is being remembered after newly-surfaced footage shows him speaking candidly about personal struggles before his sudden death.
The clip, recorded for the YouTube barbershop show Laced Up and uploaded on June 8, shows the former San Francisco 49ers star seated in the barber's chair in a reflective mood days before he was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at 36.
"I definitely had better days," Smith said at the beginning of the video linked here, before the host told him it was a “safe space” for him to “elaborate.”
Smith responded, “I kind of don't because it's along the lines of something I think I've been dealing with my whole life and I'm just struggling with accepting how it's playing out right now. That sounds like a bunch of gibberish."
He later added, "To be honest, I'm grateful. I'm in a place of gratitude right now. It's been a tough week, but it's been rewarding and it's starting to pay off. Things are starting to happen."
Smith also spoke about returning home with mixed emotions.
“It's honestly kind of bittersweet,” he said. “I’ve gotten such a warm reception from people and then places I've gone but I don't feel as if I’m ready to be back here right now, just because this is like home and people are like family. I wanted to have some things with me when I came back, you know what I mean? But it's obviously good to be back."
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Smith spent the day before his death helping a friend deliver 10 pizzas to Scott Wagers, co-founder of CHAM Deliverance Ministry, a Bay Area charity serving the homeless.
Smith’s friend Amir Shirazi told the Chronicle that he discovered the late NFL star, at first believing he was asleep in the passenger seat of a white Chevy pickup outside of Shirazi’s home on Saturday (June 13). He then called 911 and former 49ers Anthony Dixon to help him with CPR.
An hour later, Smith was pronounced dead at a hospital in San Jose. His cause of death are pending toxicology results.
The 49ers said in a statement they were “devastated by the sudden and tragic passing” and sent their condolences to Smith’s family and loved ones.
