New details about Aldon Smith’s final hours have emerged after a friend described the former Dallas Cowboys pass rusher’s last act, offering a poignant glimpse into the moments before his death, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report on Sunday.
The account adds a deeply personal layer to the story, as those closest to Smith continue sharing memories and reflecting on the impact he had on people around him.
Aldon Smith’s Final Act: A Charitable Pizza Delivery
Saturday morning, Smith and his friend Amir Shirazi made an unplanned stop at CHAM Deliverance Ministry, a San Jose-area organization that feeds the homeless. They showed up with 10 Little Caesars pizzas. Smith wore a Willis Reed throwback Knicks jersey — No. 19 — blue shorts and Air Jordans. He planned to watch the Knicks in the NBA Finals that night, according to the account by Chronicle reporters Ann Killion and Scott Ostler.
Scott Wagers, co-founder of CHAM Deliverance Ministry, had never met Smith before.
“He got out of the car and he looked maybe kind of tired,” Wagers said, as quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle reporting. “My impression was that this is a young man that wanted to help the homeless, which was great.”
Friend Describes Finding Smith ‘Basically Dead’ in Car
After the delivery, Smith and Shirazi drove to a grocery store, a gas station, then to Shirazi’s home in Los Gatos, California, a wealthy Silicon Valley suburb.
“We were joking about life and talking about stuff right before,” Shirazi told the Chronicle.
Shirazi went inside briefly by himself. When he came back out, the 6-foot-4 Smith was slumped in the passenger seat of the vehicle, “his mouth open, his 6-foot-4 frame slightly twitching,” Killion and Ostler reported.
“Shirazi said he quickly knew something was wrong. He thought it was possibly a seizure, and then maybe a massive heart attack,” according to their report.
“He was perfectly fine an hour before,” Shirazi said, as quoted by The Chronicle. “I came out and he was basically dead in my front seat. I’m just in shock.”
Shirazi called 911. He then contacted another friend, former San Francisco 49ers running back Anthony Dixon, to help administer CPR to the former 49ers All-Pro. Smith was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, where he was pronounced dead at 12:46 p.m. Smith was 36 years old.
Smith’s Official Cause of Death Remains Unclear
Santa Clara County Chief Medical Examiner Michelle Jorden confirmed Smith’s death in a statement. The cause and manner of death remain pending, according to NBC Sports Pro Football Talk. Toxicology results typically take several weeks, or even longer, to finalize.
Shirazi told The Chronicle that in his belief, Smith’s death was from natural causes, possibly a fatal heart attack. Shirazi had not seen Smith use drugs that day and “had only seen him smoking marijuana occasionally over the years,” according to the report.
“He was a very sweet, caring, loving giant,” Shirazi said. “If you really knew him, you’d know who he truly is.”
Smith had recently returned to the Bay Area from Texas, in poor financial straits and staying with friends while waiting on an NFL pension. But according to NFLPA information, NFL pensions do not start to pay out until age 55, 19 years away for Smith, who would have been eligible for a payment of $2,910 per month, per NFLPA data.
Days before his death, he stopped by Levi’s Stadium to speak to the 49ers’ 2026 rookie class.
Drafted No. 7 overall out of Missouri in 2011 by San Francisco, Smith set the 49ers’ franchise record with 19.5 sacks in 2012, earning first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. Off-field issues — roughly 10 arrests tied largely to alcohol — drew multiple NFL suspensions and derailed his career, one that promised much better.
After serving suspensions that kept him sidelined from 2016 through 2019, he signed with the Cowboys as a free agent and started all 16 games in the 2020 season, recording five sacks and 48 tackles.
The Seattle Seahawks signed Smith in April 2021, but released him during training camp, reportedly due to more off-field issues rather than his performance in camp.
Aldon Smith Cause of Death: Friend Reveals Ex-Cowboys Star’s Final Act