San Francisco 49ers: Why Aldon Smith Needs To Clean Up His Act

Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Aldon Smith is a very skilled player. He comes from the 2011 draft which might go down as one of the greatest defensive drafts in the history of the NFL. His brief career has found him constantly in the conversation for records and awards. As a rookie,  he came half a sack away from tying the rookie sack record and was second behind Von Miller for the Defensive Rookie of the Year. In 2012, he was three sacks short from tying the all-time sack record, he broke Reggie White’s record as the fastest to 30 sacks, and earlier this year his fellow players voted him the seventh best player in the NFL.

Aldon Smith is a superstar on the field — but what about off the field?

Smith was arrested for a DUI shortly after his rookie season ended. A few months later he was stabbed while he was trying to break up a fight at a party that he was throwing at his house. Recently, Smith has been named in a couple law suits from that same party.

And earlier this morning he was arrested for suspicion of DUI and having marijuana in his car after he crashed his pickup truck.

It’s unclear why Smith continues to be involved in bad situations when he is not playing football. Is it pride? Does he think he’s on top of the world? Is it the people he surrounds himself with? Or is it because he is still just a kid with millions of dollars and he’s having fun?

No matter what it is, he needs to grow up and mature quickly because bigger and worse consequences might be on the horizon.

Smith has a enormously bright future, he could become one of the very best to ever play the game. But with all these incidents just in the short amount of time he’s been in the NFL, Smith may be responsible for ending his own career. The defensive end needs to clean up his act. Not just for his team and his career, but for his own well being. This goes beyond football. Smith is not only endangering his own life, but others also. No matter the status of a person, driving under the influence is dangerous not only for yourself, but everyone around you.

It’s sad to see someone with so much talent squandering it away.

It would be tragic if someone so talented ended up as just another sad story that ends with: “What could have been”.

When all is said and done, everyone should be saying: “Aldon Smith was one of the best of all time.”

And that may be what people are saying about him before he gives his Hall of Fame speech — but that will only happen if Aldon Smith cleans up his act.