Raiders' Aldon Smith applies for reinstatement
Oakland Raiders linebacker Aldon Smith has applied for reinstatement weeks before his one-year suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy expires, according to a published report on Thursday.
Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie told the San Francisco Chronicle that Smith, whose ban ends on Nov. 17, has submitted a bid for reinstatement and would meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Under league rules, players are able to apply for reinstatement within 60 days of the suspension’s end date.
“Aldon is doing well,” McKenzie said. “That situation is going to be totally up to the league because he’s been in the program and they’ve monitored him. It’s up to Goodell to say yah, nay or when. And he could say no to everything ... that part is out of our hands.”
The Raiders signed Smith before the 2015 season after his release from the San Francisco 49ers after a series of run-ins with law enforcement, the latest a DUI arrest in August 2015. He had another DUI arrest in September 2013 and was arrested, though not charged, after an incident at Los Angeles International Airport where he told TSA agents he had a bomb.
The 49ers selected Smith, 27, was selected in the first round (seventh overall) in the 2011 draft.