Oakland Raiders linebacker Aldon Smith spoke with reporters on Thursday as he was leaving the San Francisco Police Department headquarters, and he denied that he had any involvement in a car accident that resulted in him being detained.
Police told KTVU that Smith and another man were passengers in Smith’s car when the NFL player’s girlfriend, who was driving at the time, collided with a police cruiser. Smith was reportedly detained for public intoxication and expected to be released when sober. He decided to speak with the media and denied everything police said.
WATCH: @Raiders @AldonSmith denies being detained by police in #SanFrancisco this morning https://t.co/eDiT93MLXM via @YouTube
— KTVU (@KTVU) March 9, 2017
“Nothing happened. I had to go handle something and talk to somebody,” Smith told reporters. “I was talking to a friend who’s locked up in there. That’s what I went to go do. If I did something I’d be in jail right now. I didn’t do anything.”
Smith then blamed the media for fabricating negative stories about him.
“If you guys want to talk about me, let’s make these stories a little bit better,” he said. “Let’s put me in a better spotlight to stop making me look like I’m some bada– criminal, because that’s not who I am. I’m a good person. I’ve never done anything. I’ve never hurt anybody. I’m not that type of person. Let’s start replacing these stories. That’s your story, alright? Get out of my face now, please.”
When pressed further, Smith almost appeared to slip up and say his girlfriend was driving his vehicle, but he caught himself and walked away.
Smith’s NFL career has been littered with legal issues, and he missed the entire 2016 season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. He was hoping to be reinstated by the league this month, but his detainment on Thursday and the domestic violence incident he was investigated for last month may delay his reinstatement even further. The former first-round pick has been arrested on suspicion of DUI three times since 2013.
