NFL star Aldon Smith shared heartbreaking post football story just days before his shocking and untimely passing at 36
NFL star Aldon Smith shared heartbreaking post football story just days before his shocking and untimely passing at 36 (Image via Getty: Aldon Smith) NFL star Aldon Smith passed away at the age of 36 after he was found unresponsive by his friend, Amir Shirazi, on June 13, 2026.Smith was delivering pizzas to a charity for homeless people before his passing. After the delivery, both of them drove back to Shirazi’s home.Shirazi stepped inside, but when he returned to the truck, he found Smith slumped over and unresponsive.Just days before Smith’s passing, he made an appearance on the Laced Up podcast of popular professional barber Tee Maultsby.The former defensive end shared his heartbreaking post-football story with Maultsby. He announced retirement in 2023.Aldon Smith was not sure what he wanted to do with his life after leaving footballThese excerpts are from the podcast:Aldon Smith moved to Texas after he retired from football.He was pretty unsure what he wanted to do after he was done playing football. He ended up finishing his schooling.They had some workouts for guys who were finishing up their careers.They wanted him to go work out at one of the sports facilities. He did that for a little bit, but he found himself being just “negative.”People out there were trying to get back in the league, and there he was, done with it.He was pretty “unsure” what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.So, he ended up working for a roofing company, where he went door-to-door selling roof packages and other items to different people.It didn’t last long. But it was a humbling experience for him.Aldon Smith did not think his football career had the ending it should have hadSmith was with the Seattle Seahawks. He did not finish training camp. He signed with them.But ended up getting into an incident in Louisiana. Then he ended up going to jail for a little bit for that.“My career didn’t end with…It didn’t have the ending it maybe should have,” Smith said. “I wasn’t proud of how things ended.I ended up getting another DUI. I was broke. I was broken. I was in a relationship. I got my heart broken in that. I was just dealing with a lot of adversity.So, moving back to Texas, I ain’t have nothing. I moved there with some plastic bins full of clothes that I wasn’t going to be able to use.”That’s when it hit him that he needed to put his life back together. He stayed at the Extended Stay in Frisco.He tried to figure out what he would do with his life. He didn’t want to become a coach. He didn’t want to become an announcer.He wanted to try something else because he knew he had other interests.But he was so used to having people around him that he found it scary to do something on his own.He wasn’t sure he could do it. So, he tried to put together a little routine.It was a shock for Smith to go from being in the locker room for most of his life to being by himself in a city where he did not know anybody because he was there just for one season.He had to deal with many uncomfortable things. He was out of a relationship he wanted to be in.The last DUI case made him feel very disappointed mentally and physically. The ankle monitor was a reminder for him to stop drinking.When Aldon Smith was in Texas, he called a friend he met at a rehab.His friend worked in the roofing industry and got Smith an interview, and the next thing he knew, he got the job.Even though he did the job, he felt it was tough for him.He wasn’t a good salesman because he did not like knocking on people’s doors like that. He had to deal with some ego adjustments.
