SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The family of former NFL star Aldon Smith is donating his brain to the Boston University CTE Center to research the long-term effects of repetitive brain injuries following his sudden death at age 36.Smith died Saturday hours after delivering pizzas to a homeless charity in the San Francisco Bay area.No cause of death was given and Smith’s family has hired attorneys Harry Daniels, Bakari Sellers and Wayne Kendall to investigate Smith’s death.“As with anyone who dies so suddenly at such a young age, we understand that there is a great deal of interest in and speculation about Aldon Smith’s passing and we intend to get to the bottom of it,” the attorneys said in a statement released Tuesday. “To that end, we have taken a number of steps including sending his brain to Boston where medical experts will examine it for CTE as well as other damage caused by years of concussions and additional trauma.
“In the meantime we simply ask you to keep Aldon’s family in our prayers and respect their privacy as they struggle to come to grips with this terrible loss.”Smith’s friend, Amir Shirazi, told the San Francisco Chronicle, that he found Smith slumped over in the front passenger seat of his car after delivering the pizzas on Saturday. Smith was taken to a hospital and was declared dead.
