Former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith was found unresponsive on June 13 in the passenger seat of a vehicle belonging to Amir Shirazi. Smith was 36 years old, and according to Shirazi, looked fine just an hour earlier before he passed away.
His death sent shockwaves through the NFL community, and in the days since, his family has hired lawyers to examine the circumstances surrounding his passing. Now, Smith’s former teammate Donte Whitner has come forward with information he believes the family’s legal team needs to hear.
Donte Whitner Names C.J. Spillman and Anthony Davis as Key Contacts for Aldon Smith’s Family
Speaking on “The Grit Code Podcast,” Whitner, who played alongside Smith on the 49ers from 2011 to 2013, described what he saw in the hours after Smith’s death and named two former teammates he urged the family to contact.
“The day that Aldon died, I received text messages, phone calls, FaceTimes from some of our ex-teammates,” Whitner said. “And some of the (expletive) that I saw was (expletive) disgusting.
“Now, I’m gonna go ahead and say it. C.J. Spillman called me. Six a.m. Bali time. And he put me on FaceTime, and he was showing me pictures of Aldon slumped over in the front seat,” Whitner added. “Aldon, laying on the ground in front of the vehicle that he was traveling in… with all the (expletive) hooked up to his body, pretty much deceased. And I want to say that it’s disgusting, because if you call me and we barely talk, and it’s circulating around, there’s more than just me that saw those videos and those pictures.”
Whitner then addressed Smith’s family directly and said, “So, I saw that Aldon’s family is hiring private investigators, lawyers, to investigate what actually happened that day, and I hope that they listen to this so they can understand and know who to contact. First and foremost, C.J. Spillman should have a lot of answers for you. And Anthony Davis as well.”
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Both Spillman and Davis were Smith’s teammates in San Francisco. Spillman, a safety, played for the 49ers from 2010 through 2013, overlapping with Smith’s first three seasons. Davis, an offensive tackle, played for the 49ers from 2010 through 2014 and again in 2016.
Whitner also discussed the toll the images took on him personally, as they were disturbing and left him traumatized.
“Anthony Davis was in the pictures, looking over Aldon. So I want to say that he probably didn’t have anything to do with it, but whoever was there, they had something to do with it,” Whitner continued. “And it broke my heart. I really didn’t want to even speak on the subject, but I have to. And knowing me, I have to tell the truth. I have to say what I saw because it’s traumatizing. I had nightmares two nights in a row after seeing those videos, and after seeing those pictures.”
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Whitner then shared the exact conversation he had with Spillman after Smith’s shocking death.
“[C.J. Spillman] called me, and he said, ‘Did you hear what happened to Aldon? I said, ‘No, call me.’ He called me on the phone. He said, ‘Well, Aldon was — he was unresponsive, and they said that he might not survive and he’s on his way to the hospital.’ And then he said, you know, ‘FaceTime me.’ And then I FaceTimed him and… he showed me, and the man’s body, leaning over in the front seat, then he swiped to the side,” he said.
“Then he showed him in the front of the vehicle, the SUV that they were traveling in, on the ground with the EMS, with everything hooked up to him, and then he… told me, ‘I think that Aldon is dead,’ right?” Whitner added about the conversation. “And then I’m thinking, like, ‘Why the (expletive) do you have these pictures? Who the (expletive) is taking these pictures?’ And then you see Anthony Davis… in there, you see everybody else in the EMS, and [Aldon] laying on the ground is (expletive) disgusting.”
49ers reporter Grant Cohn wrote that Whitner “seems to believe that the people who were with Smith in that house were at least somewhat culpable in his death.” He hinted at potential foul play, and everyone will likely get some answers when the results of Smith’s toxicology report are released.
Whitner’s decision to publicly name two former teammates and describe what he saw on that FaceTime call adds a significant layer to a story that is not closed yet.
With private investigators reportedly involved and Whitner’s account on the public record, the circumstances surrounding Smith’s mysterious death should come to light soon.
