New details have emerged about the final hours of former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith before his death earlier this month.
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According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Smith spent part of his final day delivering pizzas to a local homeless charity before he later became unresponsive while sitting in a friend's pickup truck outside a home in Los Gatos, California.
The Chronicle reported that Smith's friend, Amir Shirazi, found the former NFL standout slumped over in the front passenger seat after briefly going inside his house. Believing Smith was suffering a medical emergency, Shirazi called 911 and enlisted former 49ers running back Anthony Dixon to help perform CPR before paramedics arrived.
Smith was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, where he was pronounced dead. He was 36.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner is continuing to investigate the death. According to the Chronicle, the official cause and manner of death remain pending, and toxicology testing could take weeks or months to complete.
Shirazi told the newspaper that Smith had recently returned to the Bay Area and had been staying with friends while facing financial difficulties as he awaited eligibility for his NFL pension. Earlier that day, the two had volunteered to deliver pizzas to a ministry that serves homeless residents.
Smith was selected by the 49ers with the seventh overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and quickly developed into one of the league's top young pass rushers. He earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors after recording a franchise-record 19.5 sacks during the 2012 season.
His promising career was later interrupted by multiple legal issues and NFL suspensions. After several years away from the league, Smith returned in 2020 with the Dallas Cowboys, recording five sacks in what proved to be his final NFL season.
