The San Francisco 49ers were forced to make a very difficult decision after this morning’s news that linebacker Aldon Smith had been arrested on three charges. Those charges were DUI, hit and run and vandalism. It didn’t take them too terribly long to figure out what they needed to do in response to his arrest.
FILED TO ESPN: 49ers to release Aldon Smith.
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) August 7, 2015
At one point not too long ago, Smith was considered one of the biggest defensive superstars in the game. After back-to-back poor seasons and three different arrests, the 49ers were forced to make this decision. It isn’t an easy one, but San Francisco definitely made the right decision and proved that they still have morals after sticking with him twice before.
Smith hasn’t shown any of the potential that he had during the 201 season since then. During the 2012 season, Smith racked up 66 tackles, 19.5 sacks, an interception and three forced fumbles. He was the cornerstone of San Francisco’s defense, and appeared to have plenty more room to grow with it being just his second NFL season.
Looking back on the last two years, he completely lost focus on his work ethic and focused more on off-the-field things. He got into trouble each of the past two offseasons, and didn’t pay attention to keeping himself in shape and making the necessary improvements to reach the superstar status that many gave him after his sophomore NFL season.
Needless to say, this has turned into a very sad situation for both the 49ers and Smith. There is no question that he has to be shaking his head and trying to figure out where he went wrong following his release. Roger Goodell will now likely hand down some sort of punishment on Smith, although there will be other teams interested in signing him and giving him another chance.
Perhaps this is the eye-opening move that needed to happen for Smith to realize that he can’t take his career for granted. Being cut is never an easy situation for a player with pride, and Smith is going to feel very embarrassed that this situation has come to the forefront and ended with the team that has stood next to him for so long letting him go.
No matter what ends up happening in the future, Smith has to figure out how to turn his life around. He can’t keep heading down this road of arrest after arrest and expect to get by with it. The NFL won’t allow him to make too many more mistakes before they get rid of him, and he has to understand that if he wants to continue living the life that he dreamed about as a little kid, he has to cut it out now.
