Source: Raiders LB Aldon Smith applies for reinstatement to NFL

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It appears Aldon Smith wants to play football again.

The Raiders linebacker applied for NFL resinstatement, a league source confirmed to CSNCalifornia.com on Thursday afternoon. 

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the news. 

"Aldon is doing well,” Oakland GM Reggie McKenzie told the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday night “That situation is going to be totally up to the league because he’s been in the program and they’ve monitored him. It’s up to (Roger) Goodell to say yah, nay or when. And he could say no to everything … that part is out of our hands.

“The league will take everything into consideration and Aldon will have to meet with Goodell at some point.”

On Nov. 17, 2015, Smith was hit with a one-year suspension for violating the NFL's policy on substance abuse. His punishment came under the policy's Stage Three banishment, a level reserved for multiple offenders. Smith served a nine-game suspension in 2014. Smith has applied for reinstatement, and application must be granted by NFL commission Roger Goodell. A player must show that he has met requirements for reinstatement, which the NFL monitors while a player is out of the league. 

[REWIND: Questionable social media video appears to show Aldon Smith]

In late July, a video surfaced on social media that appeared to show Smith holding a hand-rolled cigarette. Smith denied invovlement with the video on Twitter. 

Less than a week later, Smith voluntarily checked himself into a treatment center. He completed that process and is now preparing for a return to professional football. 

“Aldon is working out and getting ready,” McKenzie said. “He is in a great place and that’s the main thing. Whether Goodell lets him out or not, that’s the important thing -- that he’s healthy and happy. But I would hope that we as a league reward a guy -- with stipulations -- who goes through the right steps and wants to get better and get his life in order."

Smith was released by the 49ers in early August following his latest run-in with the law, when he was arrested for suspicion of DUI, hit-and-run and vandalism. The Raiders signed him a while later. He played nine games for the Silver and Black before the NFL levied Smith's latest suspension. 

He signed a two-year contract with the Raiders during the offseason, which will kick in if he is reinstated. 
 

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