Oakland Raiders: Aldon Smith Reinstatement May Be Jeopardized By Video

Suspended Oakland Raiders pass rusher Aldon Smith isn’t eligible to return until November – but a video recently surfaced that may jeopardize his chances for reinstatement.

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We haven’t seen much from Oakland Raiders’ suspended pass rusher Aldon Smith in a while. Which, all things considered, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Over the course of his career, whenever Smith has popped up in the spotlight, it’s been because he’s facing charges for one thing or another. Given what we know of his history, the less we see of Smith – outside of the football field – usually, the better.

But since signing on with the Raiders in 2015, Smith has been a model citizen and by all accounts, a good, solid, stable presence in the locker room. He has been handling his business, has been keeping his nose clean, and by all reports, doing everything necessary to get his own house in order before applying for reinstatement later this year.

A recent video posting on the social media platform Periscope though, may very well put Smith’s return to the Raiders in some serious jeopardy.

It needs to be stated up front that the story is still unfolding and there are no certainties of anything just yet. There are some assumptions being made in the initial reporting – the biggest assumption being that the voice on the video belongs to Smith. So at this point, take everything with an enormous grain of salt.

On a Periscope account under the name “ravenga” purportedly used by Smith – most of the archived videos clearly show Smith on camera talking about his life and the world in general — a video has come to the surface that potentially cast Smith in a very bad light.

Among the archived videos is one titled “Fire Up Session.” In the video, Smith is never shown on camera, but his voice – purportedly – can be heard off camera. Below is the transcript of the Periscope video:

"Female: (Expletive deleted), I’m not (messing) with you.Male: I don’t give a (care). Ain’t nobody (messing) with us. We’ve got zero followers. Where is the ashtray at?( to audience) This is what you call a fire up session.Female: (Expletive deleted), you shouldn’t even be posting that.Male: (coughing) (Expletive deleted), do you see my face?Female: No, but what if…Male: They don’t have my name. This is just a fire up session.Female: So, if you just put it on there…it’s just doing it? It’s live? That’s hella stupid.Male: Shut up. You hella stupid. You trying to smoke, fam? Is this the ashtray?Female: Yeah. You ain’t using it no more, right?Male: I’m using it.Female: Oh, that’s a (expletive deleted) (inaudible)? Oh, a (inaudible)?Male: You’re stupid. You’re tripping. (Expletive deleted), they don’t know it’s me. It’s not like I put “Aldon Smith”…"

Missing from the original report – via CSN Bay Area – of the video is the context as well as some pertinent facts. We don’t get the date it was recorded or confirmation that the substance in the “hand rolled cigarette” shown in the video actually contained an illegal substance – though, the report insinuates as much.

The report also fails to authenticate that it was Smith’s voice heard on the video, relying instead on the judgment of the reporter who viewed the video.

"“… where Smith never appears on camera but his voice, unmistakable when compared to other videos where he talks directly to the camera, has a conversation with an unidentified female about a hand-rolled cigarette shown on screen.”"

The report though, could complicate matters for Smith, who is already serving a one year suspension for a variety of offenses. He still must apply for reinstatement and have it approved by the league offices if he hopes to return in November.

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Smith signed a two year $11.5 million dollar deal – though the contract contains no guaranteed money – with the Raiders this offseason. The team had been counting on him to further bolster a rebuilt pass rush that, on paper, could be among the best in the league.

Everything about this though, should be seen through a lens of skepticism at this point, since it seems to defy logic itself. It seems more than odd that Smith, who knows he’s already on a short leash, would not only video himself having a “fire up session,” but would then end the video by dropping his own name.

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Without a lot of facts or context to go by, there should be no rush to judgment just yet. It could be totally innocuous and nothing more than a silly stunt. But it most certainly casts Smith, who seemed well down the road to redemption, in a poor light. To say the least.

And it’s something that Roger Goodell, who seems to enjoy wielding the hammer he has – a little too much according to most – will be scrutinizing closely.

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