49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab UPDATE detained for reported LAX bomb threat

[LongTimeListener]

He'll miss the next game at least, Thursday against St. Louis. This after Jim Harbaugh blew off the entire situation last week, saying the league can handle the discipline if it's needed, and Smith played the whole game Sunday.

http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Aldon-Smith-to-seek-treatment-miss-Rams-game-4835110.php

This strikes me very much as an ownership reaction to the publicity about the case and the many other cases involving Smith. (Chronicle's Ann Killion blasted Harbaugh and the 49ers this morning: http://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-Harbaugh-sends-wrong-message-on-Smith-s-DUI-4831978.php)

And it's also clearly a rebuke to the coach. I'm sure his ego and non-confrontational personality will be just fine with being overruled on personnel matters involving his 2012 team MVP, though. Probably no problem there.

Two losses in a row, a first for Harbaugh's 49ers, and now this. Could get interesting.

 

[HanSenSE]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

I doubt Harbaugh had to deal with this much at Stanford on San Diego. Seeing the arbitrary way the league issues punishment, I'm not sure I'd want to leave it in their hands. I sense Smith'll miss more than one game, though

 

[Chef2]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

York screwed this thing up from the beginning.

And in other breaking news, the sun rose in the east this morning.

 

[H.L. Mencken]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

Didn't Harbaugh make a minor deal of some back-up linebacker getting a DUI last year and how he couldn't travel with the team as a result, etc. I have a vague memory of this.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

Handled very badly. Maybe Harbaugh was looking for an excuse for the inevitable loss to the Rams on Thursday night.

There is no consistency to how DUIs are handled in the NFL. There are times when it's almost ignored and times when it's huge news.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

Didn't Harbaugh make a minor deal of some back-up linebacker getting a DUI last year and how he couldn't travel with the team as a result, etc. I have a vague memory of this.

Yep, DeMarcus Dobbs. Didn't go to St. Louis last year and then was suspended by the league for the first game this year.

Also, there was a case this summer of Ahmad Brooks cracking a teammate over the head with a beer bottle and threatening to get his gun. The case didn't result in charges despite the initial DA action, which has most people thinking the 49ers used their connections roger favorable treatment, and Brooks missed no time.

No way to spin it other than the better you are, the more you get away with, and Smith clearly can be the next LT as far as Harbaugh is concerned.

 

[YankeeFan]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

No way to spin it other than the better you are, the more you get away with, and Smith clearly can be the next LT as far as Harbaugh is concerned.

Showtime premiered a movie about LT a couple of days ago, and Parcells does not appreciate the the idea that he may have enabled Taylor:

From this, the film examines whether coach Bill Parcells and the Giants brass enabled Taylor’s drug use so they could keep him on the field and out of rehab. It’s a charge Parcells angrily denies, though his refusal to provide details means he’s less than 100 percent convincing.

On whether he took measures to help Taylor with his drug problem, Parcells says, “I know, he knows, and that’s all I’m gonna say.”

Then he adds, “But frankly it pisses me off when people say that.”

http://bit.ly/1ftJtMy

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

I saw that movie. It was damn good.

I'm sure Parcells was pissed, but so what. He's the one who ignored the problem for 10 years. The parallel to this situation is pretty strong.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

It's an interesting line. I get the sense that Parcells genuinely cared about LT's well-being, but also cared about keeping him on the field because he wanted to win.

I'm sure Parcells knows he did things that kept LT on the field when he should have had him in rehab. Then again, you could get away with a lot more then than you can now. If LT hadn't been so open about his past, I wonder how much we would know about all of the things that went on back then.

 

[YankeeFan]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

I saw that movie. It was damn good.

I'm sure Parcells was pissed, but so what. He's the one who ignored the problem for 10 years. The parallel to this situation is pretty strong.

Didn't see the movie, but I agree. Thought it was a good comparison.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

I'd be interested in what Harbaugh's reaction would be if the exact same scenario played out in Seattle, and Pete Carroll's star player was able to stay active and play against the 49ers before going into rehab.

I'm guessing Harbaugh wouldn't be so much in favor of letting the star player suit up in that case - and would be quite a prick about it.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

When the Seahawks' suspension news hit, Harbaugh said the 49ers wanted to be "above reproach" in everything on and off the field.

Would love to know Pete Carroll's private reaction to all of this -- after **giggle giggle**, of course.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

When the Seahawks' suspension news hit, Harbaugh said the 49ers wanted to be "above reproach" in everything on and off the field.

Would love to know Pete Carroll's private reaction to all of this -- after **giggle giggle**, of course.

Yeah, as much as I've appreciated the turnaround job that Harbaugh has done with the 49ers there have definitely been several times where I want to tell him just to take the high road for once and shut the **** up.

 

[Cubbiebum]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

Harbaugh aside, a team voluntarily gets a player to go to rehab and are still paying him while he misses at least one game. That is something the 49ers should be commended for. I don't know there are many other teams that would do that with an All-Pro.

For the record he is NOT suspended. The reason it came after the game could very well be they told him he goes to rehab voluntarily or they suspend him. Takes time to convince a player and ultimatum presented after game. Shouldn't have played but there could be reasons behind it.

 

[YankeeFan]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

If he only misses one game, then the whole "rehab" is a joke.

If they want him to begin a path of recovery, they'll insist on a 30-day inpatient program.

 

[BurnsWhenIPee]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

Harbaugh aside, a team voluntarily gets a player to go to rehab and are still paying him while he misses at least one game. That is something the 49ers should be commended for. I don't know there are many other teams that would do that with an All-Pro.

For the record he is NOT suspended. The reason it came after the game could very well be they told him he goes to rehab voluntarily or they suspend him. Takes time to convince a player and ultimatum presented after game. Shouldn't have played but there could be reasons behind it.

I was under the impression that with the CBA, the team could not have suspended him - suspensions need to come from the NFL. And I don't think they have any choice about paying him/not paying him while he is in rehab. As long as the league hasn't suspended him, he gets paid.

It appears Harbaugh and the team had 4 choices of how to deal with him this week.

1. Keep him active and play him.
2. Make him inactive.
3. Keep him active and not play him.
4. Release him (and pay his entire 2013 salary, at least until another team picks him up)

Nos. 3 and 4 were never going to happen. So the argument is whether they should have done No. 1, which they did, or should have done No. 2. I'd expect almost every coach in the NFL to make the same decision Harbaugh did.

 

[poindexter]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

Micheal Irvin said that Aldon Smith asking for help was "courageous". And Deion Sanders agreed with him.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

And Phil Simms on air praised the 49ers for being proactive, as Smith played every snap.

 

[JC]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

Harbaugh aside, a team voluntarily gets a player to go to rehab and are still paying him while he misses at least one game. That is something the 49ers should be commended for. I don't know there are many other teams that would do that with an All-Pro.

For the record he is NOT suspended. The reason it came after the game could very well be they told him he goes to rehab voluntarily or they suspend him. Takes time to convince a player and ultimatum presented after game. Shouldn't have played but there could be reasons behind it.

He's cant be suspended so what the hell should they be commended for?

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: 49ers send Aldon Smith to rehab

Getting him into rehab was a last-minute panic reaction to the ****storm of criticism they took initially. There is nothing to be commended about it.