Why Aldon Smith Should Be Given An Alternative Penalty

KPIX 5 Sports Anchor Dennis O'Donnell offers his unique commentary on the Bay Area sports scene.

I wish the NFL had given Aldon Smith an alternative penalty.

There it is. I said it. The hate mail is coming. The venom is spewing, the haters are hating.

Smith was suspended one year for his August DUI, hit-and-run, and vandalism charges. His rap sheet is longer than his arms. His fall from the top faster than his end-around on the right tackle.  Now we won't see number 99 until sometime in late November of 2016.

I don't know Aldon Smith. To be honest, I have no allegiance, no season tickets, and no vested interest in the Raiders. But for some reason, I care about the person. We all expect these kids to make smooth transitions into a world of fame, riches, women and a whole lot of free time. Could there be a more damaging cocktail of disaster?

And that's Aldon Smith. A rookie locomotive on the bullet train to Canton until the wheels came off. The engine derailed and left a complete train wreck in its path.

In a statement released by the Raiders, here is what Smith said upon learning of his suspension:

"I had lost my love for the game and it led me to some poor choices, but I am thankful to the Raider organization for believing in me this season and will continue to better myself and grow from my experiences. I look forward to rejoining the team next year."

It appeared that Smith rediscovered his "love for the game" in Oakland. He had sacks in back-to-back games and was regaining a sliver of the ability that made him the most feared pass rusher in the NFL. But it wasn't so much what he was doing on the field.  I sensed he'd become a different person all together. A better teammate, a harder worker, a happier person, and hopefully, clean.  I have no inside intel to back this up.

The NFL did what we all expected and what Smith deserved. But did the change of venue help the person change? If Smith was on the road to recovery, to becoming a better person and one not haunted by the daily demons that brought him to this point, was there another option than a one-year suspension? NFL protocol says otherwise and you really can't blame those who wrote the rules.

The NFL doesn't rely on police reports to do their dirty work. Goodell writes checks to big time law firms whose job it is to dig. And we have to assume they dug. Perhaps they found more concrete evidence than my simplistic hunches.

I just wished this one had a different ending. Maybe, it will, in 2016.

See you on TV.