New Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Aldon Smith detailed exactly how far his life and self-esteem had fallen since he last played in the NFL during an interview with Jay Glazer of FOX Sports on Thursday night.
“I would say 2018 was a tough year,” Smith said. “In that year, I was in a really dark place. I didn’t have a lot of value for how I thought about myself. When I was in the bad spot, it got pretty bad. I was sleeping under a car for some nights because my sickness took me there. And I had a home to sleep in. But I was in such a dark place that I didn’t see myself deserving anything other than that.”
Smith was arrested multiple times and suspended on several occasions by the NFL for substance-abuse and personal conduct policy violations. He hasn’t played in the NFL since 2015 after being suspended while with the Oakland Raiders. Smith has had multiple DUI arrests as well with the most recent coming in June of last year in Kansas. However, Glazer indicated that Smith has been sober for the nine months he’s worked with him. Smith said it was helpful to him to talk with veterans through Glazer’s Merging Veterans and Players Foundation and gave him an outlet that allowed him to progress from the depths to which he’d fallen.
“At the beginning of it I was a little hesitant to talk but the more I felt comfortable with those people, it really just became so therapeutic for me because I was able to get help for me because I was able to get help for things that I was dealing with and I was also able to help by sharing my story,” Smith saiud.
Smith said that he met new Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy at Glazer’s gym and the two connected and started to build a relationship. Additionally, former San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Tomsula is now with Dallas as well, which helped Smith feel even more comfortable with the team.
“The pieces fit,” Smith said.
Now Smith will hope that Commissioner Roger Goodell allows him to get another chance as Smith remains indefinitely suspended by the league due to his previous transgressions.