With the 49ers releasing linebacker Reuben Foster in the wake of his misdemeanor domestic violence arrest Saturday in Florida, Aldon Smith's situation was brought up on 49ers Pregame Live as a comparison.
Former 49ers safety Donte Whitner, now an NBC Sports Bay Area analyst, had a front-row seat for Smith's many run-ins with trouble, and he doesn't believe they were similar to Foster's issues. He also had some strong thoughts on the linebacker's situation.
"It was very tough watching Aldon Smith go through that," Whitner said Sunday before pivoting back to Foster. "At some point, you're a grown man. At some point, after you get your second, third, fourth chance, it's all on you. ... This man was a grown man, and you understand your career was almost taken away from you with the last charges, why would you put yourself in the same predicament over and over and over again? At some point, we're not going to hold your hand. You're a grown man."
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE Whitner and Smith were 49ers teammates from 2011 through the 2013 season. Since becoming a pro in 2011, Smith had numerous run-ins with the law.
In 2013, Smith was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of alcohol, and later entered himself into a rehab facility. The next season, Smith was suspended for nine games after he violated the league's substance abuse policy. A year later, he was arrested a third time for a DUI, and subsequently was released by the 49ers.
"We did the same thing with Aldon. 'Aldon, come on, stop doing this.' 'Aldon, don't do this, don't do that.' And you continue to do it?" Whitner said. "Now we have to let you face the consequences on your own, and nobody's going to hold your hand.
"Football aside, now you made it out of the hood, you made it out of the ghetto and now you continue to want to go back. Now, this is an opportunity to send him back to the ghetto, to the hood, where he first started, and you never know what will happen then."
San Francisco 49ers
Find the latest San Francisco 49ers news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
While Foster and Smith were both first-round draft picks by the 49ers, their on-field production was completely different, and Whitner believes that played a part in how long of a leash the team gave each player. In four seasons with the 49ers, Smith finished with 44 sacks and 152 combined tackles. In 16 games over two seasons, Foster never recorded a sack and finished with 101 combined tackles.
"Aldon was a totally different situation because he would go out there and get you four, five, six sacks in one game," Whitner said. "And it's easier to deal with when you're on the field and putting effort and putting plays toward winning a championship. But when you're a guy that's been struggling like Reuben Foster, a guy that's been struggling off the field, at some point, we gotta cut our ties with you, and we wish you the best of luck."
Foster posted a $2,000 bond from a Tampa, Fla., jail on Sunday while his former teammates were playing the Bucs. As Foster exited the jail, he declined to comment and was wisked away in a car that was waiting for him.