Why didn't Keim sign Aldon Smith?

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Cowboys can have him. I have no issue with Keim on this one.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Our team's owner is a former federal prosecutor. Our tolerance of any off the field issue is incredibly low.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

This "poor character" stuff is nonsense. He's a guy that had some issues. Whether they be mental or substance related. Probably both. That doesn't make him a "poor character". If anything the fact that he put a massive amount of effort in to get back to football shape and stay clean shows great character.

Not hiring guys because of past off field issues like this is weak and it's something good teams don't do. We fired Philon for a he said/she said he still hasn't been charged for. Patrick Chung was arrested on drug charges a few weeks later and Belichick had him starting the next week.

If a player makes you better you sign him. If he causes issues in the locker room or relapses you cut his ass. It's not hard.

Correct.

It’s funny how Belichick is better than every other organization combined, consistently goes after what are deemed “poor character” guys, and yet whenever a talented guy with some behavioral issues becomes available they play the same damn song. Guess that’s why they always lose and are losers and Belichick has 8 rings.

 

[TJ]

Are we still gonna say this if and when Aldon Smith screws up again?

 

[TJ]

Correct.

It’s funny how Belichick is better than every other organization combined, consistently goes after what are deemed “poor character” guys, and yet whenever a talented guy with some behavioral issues becomes available they play the same damn song. Guess that’s why they always lose and are losers and Belichick has 8 rings.

Aldon Smith's rap sheet is long. Longer than any of the people Belichick has taken a risk on, including AB. I'm fine with not gambling on guys like Aldon. More often than not, the returns are low.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

He got into a beef with his fiance and she took out a TRO. He wasn't charged with anything. No crime committed. In fact it's a prime example of how when the same thing happened with Fitz it was glossed over, whereas today it would be headline news.

He hasn't had a drink or drug related incident since his release by the Niners in 2015.

Oh, yeah, Larry slammed a woman into the ground iirc. But yeah can’t have guys like that around.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

Aldon Smith's rap sheet is long. Longer than any of the people Belichick has taken a risk on, including AB. I'm fine with not gambling on guys like Aldon. More often than not, the returns are low.

Aldon Smith may be a bad gamble idk, but the point is the holier than thou crowd immediately going CANT HAVE POOR CHARACTER GUYZ and not pausing to think it through and look at what a winner does like BB.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

Oh yeah and they also exalt Fitz who did something worse than anything Aldon has done!

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

Completely untrue. If my team was full of criminals, I would cease watching them or spending my money on them until they weren't.

Being a fan of a team that rarely makes headlines for the wrong reason is a good thing. People who run jump and catch well don't deserve my money if they're assbags.

False dichotomy. A “criminal” is anyone who has broken the criminal law: so, everyone itt, as I would suspect everyone has at least driven 20 over the speed limit or picked up a random minor charge. Good people can be criminals and bad people (i.e., “assbags”) can be “law-abiding”. The GMs job is to make discernment of character from everything they learn about the player. Honey Badger was a criminal btw!

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

I would DEFINITELY root for a team full of Honey Badgers.

Solar7 wouldn’t. Welp.

 

[Solar7]

Aldon Smith may be a bad gamble idk, but the point is the holier than thou crowd immediately going CANT HAVE POOR CHARACTER GUYZ and not pausing to think it through and look at what a winner does like BB.

Belichick took risks on some guys here or there, but mostly had a no-nonsense locker room that prevented guys from doing this. Not everyone needs to be a super-clean pillar of the community, but some guys are just **** and bring everyone down around them.

False dichotomy. A “criminal” is anyone who has broken the criminal law: so, everyone itt, as I would suspect everyone has at least driven 20 over the speed limit or picked up a random minor charge. Good people can be criminals and bad people (i.e., “assbags”) can be “law-abiding”. The GMs job is to make discernment of character from everything they learn about the player. Honey Badger was a criminal btw!

Don't play the semantics here. You get what I mean. A guy who got popped for having a little bit of weed on him one time isn't the same as someone who has been given chance after chance after chance, and has done nothing with it. Especially one who assaults women.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

You’re completely revising HB’s history at LSU. He wasn’t dismissed for one transgression. Get real. The 68 players taken before him indicate lots of GMs were worried about his character too!

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

Fitz assaulted a woman. He gotta go, too?

 

[Solar7]

You’re completely revising HB’s history at LSU. He wasn’t dismissed for one transgression. Get real. The 68 players taken before him indicate lots of GMs were worried about his character too!

Fitz assaulted a woman. He gotta go, too?

I'm not arguing about Fitz or Honey Badger. But even still, each guy's rap sheet looks nothing like an Aldon Smith. People can change, second chances matter. For Aldon, it's like the 20th chance, after already failing multiple teams.

Not everyone has to be a saint. But some people have worked their way into a spot where I wouldn't associate with them personally and I wouldn't want them on my football team either.

 

[Shane]

Who let the trolls in?

 

[Krangodnzr]

Neither does Smith. He's never been charged for domestic violence and the weapon possession charge was dropped to a misdemeanor. He's hardly a hardened criminal.

Quinnen Williams and Ed Oliver were both arrested for unlawful possession of a weapon this year. Ed Oliver had a DUI to go with it. Chris Herndon had a DUI last year. Should they be cut? They are all still with their teams.

Oliver and Williams were carrying weapons. Smith just had them in his home.

It's funny because no players, coaches, media or anyone else connected to the NFL has any issue with these players getting 2nd chances. It's always just fans. It's almost as if fans expect some unrealistic level of human behavior from players because they have money or privilege.

I simply don't see it that way. If the player has taken steps to correct themselves, if they come into the building and impress you. If they work hard in camp and do everything right to make the 53 where is the risk?

If they don't do that then you cut them. It's pretty easy.

You think if Smith has a 15 sack season for $2m any fans across the league will be talking about his past? Most of them will be saying "Damn I wished we signed him".

Do you think if we did sign him and against the Niners he had the same 9 tackle, 2 TFL, 1 sack game for us fans would be going on about his past? Please.

All people care about is football. And all this rank hypocrisy here is purely because he is playing somewhere else. If he was here fans would be saying what a great "Keim time" signing he was and how he's changed his ways and deserves another chance. This board would be awash with talk of how great a CJ / Smith combo is going to be and what a bargain he was for $2m.

I'm not concerned from a moral outrage perspective. The guy is unreliable. It's nice that someone gave him a fifth or tenth chance whatever it is that he's at now, but for the Cardinals to give up a roster spot for someone with a lengthy history of misconduct.

There is a LOOOOOOOONG pattern of misconduct. To say the Cardinals should have signed him now is completely ridiculous.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Aldon Smith may be a bad gamble idk, but the point is the holier than thou crowd immediately going CANT HAVE POOR CHARACTER GUYZ and not pausing to think it through and look at what a winner does like BB.

It's not just breaking the law....he has failed to stay sober on NUMEROUS occasions.

It's not just money...it's also a roster spot. That means you carry him on your opening day roster, and someone else who doesn't have his history is shown the door. It's not a good gamble on someone who repeatedly blew chances.

 

[Russ Smith]

I can't believe we're actually having this conversation. I live near the 49ers stadium I was posting on this board months before Smith finally got in so much trouble they cut him that it was common knowledge he wasn't "Clean" and that it was just a matter of time before he got caught.

Just using the search tool on here Dec 2014 I posted that there was a reputed incident involving Smith in a parking lot that was being investigated but before the 49ers even got to that point they let him go because he was caught up in a domestic violence incident with Ray McDonald and his GF where the GF reported that the 3 of them had been drinking. Smith had already been suspended before and one of the conditions of his reinstatement was he could not drink, he broke that so they let him go. The parking lot incident was supposed to be a fight where he essentially beat the crap out of someone and he was let go because they knew who he was and felt sorry for him, knew it would end his career as a 49er if they arrested him.

He's not Charles Manson no but the idea that he was just a young kid with a few incidents is comically wrong he'd been in trouble since basically his rookie year. He was getting all sorts of breaks because he was so good, the problem is it was all catching up with him, one story came out and then another 2 or 3 that had been kept quiet came up and it became very apparent to the 49ers that he had been lying to them the whole time and that people including teammates had been covering for him

I hope it works out for him he's a great talent, it would make a great story, but I don't fault the Cards at all for not pursuing him it's just impossible to know with a guy with that history. Maybe a pandemic is perfect for him he's going to get tested often and he's essentially on restriction so maybe he can stay out of trouble but there's no guarantee he will

 

[Ronin]

I agree with @Russ Smith I hope it works out for him.


I aint mad his not here.

 

[Ronin]

Oh and so does the theory that "Aldon Smith is only good because he has Justin Smith holding his man" go out the window?

 

[Krangodnzr]

Oh and so does the theory that "Aldon Smith is only good because he has Justin Smith holding his man" go out the window?

Well....that did happen! I've seen the highlights of Aldon getting sacks because Justin held the blocker on stunts. It was a very clever strategy.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe]

It's not just breaking the law....he has failed to stay sober on NUMEROUS occasions.

It's not just money...it's also a roster spot. That means you carry him on your opening day roster, and someone else who doesn't have his history is shown the door. It's not a good gamble on someone who repeatedly blew chances.

Failed to stay sober on numerous occasions is fair. Calling him a bad character guy or criminal is not fair. Also plenty of addicts recover, so maybe he is in that group?

I’m guessing lots of people just don’t want him because he was on the 49ers lol.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Failed to stay sober on numerous occasions is fair. Calling him a bad character guy or criminal is not fair. Also plenty of addicts recover, so maybe he is in that group?

I’m guessing lots of people just don’t want him because he was on the 49ers lol.

That's a reach and a half. I doubt anyone here would decline picking up a player that would help simply because they played for a rival. He has a long history of doing things off the field that effects his ability to stay on it. That is enough of a reason to pass on picking him up.

This is also his first NFL action since 2015 and that makes it almost impossible to guess what level he would still be able to play at.

 

[dscher]

Oh yeah and they also exalt Fitz who did something worse than anything Aldon has done!

*Crickets

Don't get me wrong. I love Larry. But this just proves, imo, that we all struggle to take a hard look into the mirror at times. Bottom line is, forgiveness. We did it with Larry.. could only imagine the response if he wasn't a Card and we had possibly pursued him after that incident.

 

[slanidrac16]

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

This "poor character" stuff is nonsense. He's a guy that had some issues. Whether they be mental or substance related. Probably both. That doesn't make him a "poor character". If anything the fact that he put a massive amount of effort in to get back to football shape and stay clean shows great character.

Not hiring guys because of past off field issues like this is weak and it's something good teams don't do. We fired Philon for a he said/she said he still hasn't been charged for. Patrick Chung was arrested on drug charges a few weeks later and Belichick had him starting the next week.

If a player makes you better you sign him. If he causes issues in the locker room or relapses you cut his ass. It's not hard.

Cmon Brit. We’re not talking an incident or two. The guy is a ticking time bomb. He played one decent game and we are going to question why Keim didn’t sign him?

Good lord.