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Former NFL cornerback, Alphonso Smith Jr. has died at the age of 40.
According to TMZ Sports, the American football player died by suicide on Wednesday at a housing community in his hometown of Pahokee, Florida.
Prior to his demise, Smith shared a deeply personal message on Facebook showing his fragile emotional state.
In it he wrote of fighting “demons,” expressed regret for people he said he had hurt, and stated that he had needed help that he did not receive.
“Do not cry for me! I tried everything in my power to fight the demons behind the ones that someone put into ME! I did not want to be that WAY! I know I have disappointed so many folks. This is a DEMON in me! But not only me! It’s EVERYONE! I have HURT so many! I needed help & did not get it!” the post reads in part.
He ended the post with the words: “I am SORRY! THIS IS IT!”
Smith, born October 20, 1985, in Pahokee, first made his name at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
There he set an Atlantic Coast Conference record with 21 career interceptions, earned consensus All-American honours in 2008, and was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.
The Denver Broncos selected him 37th overall in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft.
After one season in Denver he was traded to the Detroit Lions in September 2010.
He spent the next three seasons with the Lions.
Across four NFL seasons between 2009 and 2012 Smith appeared in 42 games, recording 88 tackles and eight interceptions.
His five interceptions in 2010 led the Lions that year.
