Donte Whitner is not holding back about what he saw from some of his former San Francisco 49ers teammates the day Aldon Smith died. And what he saw left him furious.
Whitner went on The Grit Code Podcast and said he got texts, calls, and FaceTimes from guys he used to play with. Some of them sent him pictures of Smith’s body at the scene of his death. Whitner didn’t mince words about it.
“The day that Aldon died, I received text messages, phone calls, FaceTimes from some of our ex-teammates,” Whitner said. “And some of the s*** that I saw was f***** disgusting.”
He specifically called out former teammate C.J. Spillman. Whitner said Spillman FaceTimed him at 6 a.m. Bali time and showed him photos of Smith slumped over in a front seat and then lying on the ground near the vehicle. Smith was basically gone at that point, with medical equipment still attached to him.
“Aldon, laying on the ground in front of the vehicle that he was traveling in . . . with all the s*** hooked up to his body, pretty much deceased,” Whitner said.
Smith died at age 36. The circumstances around his death are still not fully clear. His family has reportedly hired private investigators and lawyers to dig into what happened that day. Whitner had some advice for them based on what he knows.
“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,” Whitner said. “First and foremost, C.J. Spillman should have a lot of answers for you. And Anthony Davis as well. Anthony Davis was in the pictures, looking over Aldon.”
Smith played for the 49ers from 2011 to 2014. He was a dominant pass rusher and made the Pro Bowl in 2012. But his career was also marked by a series of off-field issues that ultimately derailed it. He later attempted a comeback with the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks but never returned to his old form.
The photos Whitner described raise serious questions about privacy and basic human decency in the moments after a teammate’s death. As the investigation into Smith’s death continues, Whitner made it clear he wants the family to know exactly who might have the answers.
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