49ers' Aldon Smith Suspended for 9 Games

NFL announces OLB suspended without pay for violating policies on substance abuse, personal conduct

By NBC Bay Area Staff • •

The NFL has suspended San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Aldon Smith for the first nine games of the 2014 season for violating the league’s policies on substance abuse and personal conduct. Scott Budman reports.

The San Francisco 49ers will play more than half the season without the team’s best defensive player.

The NFL has suspended outside linebacker Aldon Smith for the first nine games of the 2014 season for violating the league's policies on substance abuse and personal conduct.

Smith's suspension is without pay, the league announced Friday.

Smith will be eligible to return to the 49ers’ active roster on Monday, Nov. 10, following the team’s Nov. 9 game against the New Orleans Saints, the NFL announced. He'll likely be back on the field when the Niners play the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 16.

“Our organization has known this decision would come and we have prepared for it as a team," San Francisco 49ers General Manager Trent Baalke said in a statement following the league's announcement. "Aldon has taken responsibility for his actions and has continued to show growth personally and professionally. We will continue to support him, but it is time to put this matter behind us and focus on the season ahead.”

Smith will not be able to appeal the suspension as the appeals process has already run its course, CSN Bay Area's Matt Maiocco reported.

The 24-year-old Smith, one of the NFL's top pass rushers, missed five games last season to undergo treatment at an in-patient facility following his DUI arrest Sept. 20.

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Just before training camp began last month, the 24-year-old Smith was sentenced to serve three years of probation and to spend 11 days with a work crew after he pleaded no contest to drunken driving and weapons charges.

A judge in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose on Friday sentenced San Francisco 49ers player Aldon Smith to 11 days in a work program for his conviction on three assault weapons charges reduced to misdemeanors and two DUI charges. Damian Trujillo reports.

He has repeatedly said he has been sober since his DUI arrest last September. Smith played in a 27-7 home loss to the Colts on Sept. 22, two days after he was arrested and jailed on suspicion of DUI and marijuana possession. After the game, he publicly apologized for his behavior and later announced he would leave for treatment.

While the Niners went on a five-game winning streak without him, Smith's menacing presence was sorely missed. The team still picked up his 2015 contract option this spring.

In his latest run-in with the law, Smith was arrested April 13 at Los Angeles International Airport. Police said Smith was randomly selected for a secondary screening and became uncooperative with the process, telling a TSA agent that he had a bomb. No charges were filed.

NBC Bay Area
On June 29th, 2012, All-Pro linebacker Aldon Smith hosted a party at his 8,000-square-foot home in the foothills east of San Jose. In the early morning hours of June 30th, gun fire was exchanged. Two men were shot and Smith was stabbed.
South Jail
Sources close to The Investigative Unit confirm that following Aldon Smith's arrest for DUI, he was escorted from the Santa Clara County Main North Jail to the South Jail (seen here) by way of a tunnel. He was then released at street level. By at least 12:42p.m., Smith was already at football practice with the 49ers.
NBC Bay Area
It was here at the Santa Clara County Firearms Range, that Aldon Smith and several of his 49er teammates were among those attending a fund raiser for the Sheriff's Advisory Board. According to Sheriff Smith, Aldon Smith shot firearms and rode in the Sheriff's helicopter - all while he was under investigation for illegal assault weapon charges.
According to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's official website, STAR 1 provides air support and has been in service 2003. Aldon Smith was given the opportunity to ride in STAR 1 while under investigation for possessing illegal assault rifles.
The Sheriff's Advisory Board is the fund raising arm of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's office. It is common for the non-profit organization to have functions that raise money and membership.
When questioned whether having Aldon Smith at the firearms range while he was under investigation was a conflict of interest, the Sheriff (seen here at an unrelated press conference) replied, “You think there is something wrong with it, I don’t. I would do it again. He was up there and it was wonderful.”
NBC Bay Area
Rory LIttle is a professor at UC Hastings College of Law and serves as Reporter to the American Bar Association’s Task Force to Revise the Criminal Justice Standards. When referring to Sheriff Smith's decision to allow Aldon Smith on the firearms range he said, “A chief law enforcement officer should avoid contacts like that."
Associated Press
In total, Aldon Smith faces three felony charges for having illegal assault rifles, DUI charges and two civil suits against him by two men who claim to have been shot at his June, 2012 house party.

Last season, Smith finished with 8 1/2 sacks and 34 tackles in 11 games with eight starts. He was initially worked back in slowly, but demonstrated he had stayed in shape while away.

Selected seventh overall in the 2011 draft out of Missouri, Smith had a franchise-record 19 1/2 sacks during the 2012 season for the 49ers, who lost to Baltimore in the Super Bowl after that season.

Read more from CSN Bay Area.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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