Von Miller at Broncos training camp. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
When San Francisco 49ers defensive end Aldon Smith picked up his fifth arrest Thursday, the team decided it had had enough.
after Santa Clara, Calif., police said they had arrested him on suspicion of a hit and run, driving under the influence and vandalism. (Smith denied he was driving under the influence during an interview with a local television station.)
In the last three years, Smith has been arrested five times, spent a month in a treatment facility, served a nine-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct and substance abuse policy and has now been released.
Miller, who had his own string of troubles, including a six-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy in 2013, can relate to what Smith is going through. The two became friends as part of the 2011 draft class, and Miller credited Smith with helping get through his suspension. On Friday, Miller said he would return the favor.
“Yeah, I heard about it,” Miller said of Smith’s release. “That’s my guy. I’m going to be with him until the very end. We’re friends before anything else. That’s my brother. He’s going through a tough time right now. He was there for me and I’m going to be there for him.
“He’s going through a tough patch — we all go through a tough patch — but I have full confidence that he’ll be able to get out it and we’ll see the same Aldon Smith that we saw the first two years in the league. It’s just tough right now. People go through tough times, I’ll be the first one to tell you. I’ve been through a lot of stuff, and I’m going to be there for him, however long it is, to get him back right.”
Miller was recently after two years of testing clean. He enters the final year on his contract — the Broncos picked up his fifth-year option — and his clean state could work in his favor in contract negotiations.
Smith’s contract was also set to expire after this season, but even with his past incidents, a future contract figured to be team-friendly. The 49ers now face a $1.6 million cap hit for releasing him.
