Aldon Smith said he's angry at himself after getting stabbed at a house party last month but that he's now 100 percent healed and ready to roll with the rest of the starters at today's first training camp practice.
"I just feel after the incidents that happened and the expectations that were set for me, I feel like I let the fans - and everybody that looked at me like that - down," Smith, 22, said of the June 30 incident. " ... It's helped my focus out. I'm really focused more than ever, not to say that I wasn't in the beginning. But I'm focused more than ever and I'm ready to go."
Sheriff's deputies responding to gunshots at Smith's residence found hundreds of party goers spilling out of the house along with two gunshot victims and Smith, who was suffering from two stab wounds. Smith said he needed staples to close the wounds but that he didn't need any extensive treatment. "I'm young so I healed up pretty quick," he said.
The Santa Clara sheriff's department does not have any suspects in the case.
That incident followed a January DUI arrest in Miami Beach in which Smith was observed swerving in and out of traffic before being pulled over at 4:33 a.m. Breathalyzer tests put Smith's blood-alcohol level at .194 and .176. The legal limit in Florida is .08.
According to the Miami-Dade Office of the State Attorney, Smith qualified for a program to reduce the charges to reckless driving. Among the qualifications for the program are completion of a DUI school, 60 hours of community service, completion of a session of the victim impact panel, interlocking his vehicle for three months and paying $500 to a victim services/DUI enforcement fund.
Jim Harbaugh said the 49ers have dealt with Smith internally but would not offer any details. "I talked to Aldon, and that conversation is private," he said. "Aldon doesn't need to re-read the same exact thing I told him quoted in the newspaper."
Said Smith: "Being my age, you've just got to be aware of everything around you. You've got to make better decisions and surround myself with good people. ... You definitely think about what happened and how you want to be perceived. And that's how you want your career to go."
-- Matt Barrows
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