Alphonso Smith Jr., the former Denver Broncos draft pick and standout Wake Forest cornerback, has died at the age of 40, according to a TMZ report referenced by Heavy.com. The news has drawn attention not only because of his early death, but because of the college career that made him one of the most accomplished defensive backs in Wake Forest history.
TMZ reported that Smith died by suicide on Wednesday at a housing community in Florida. The report said he attended Wake Forest from 2004 to 2008, earned All-American honors in his final season, and was inducted into the school’s athletic hall of fame in 2022.
Wake Forest record and recognition
Smith’s college résumé was a major part of the story around his death. He was a two-time All-American and a two-time All-ACC selection, and his 21 career interceptions remain the ACC career record. For Wake Forest, that made him a player whose impact went far beyond one strong season.
The school honoured that legacy in 2022 by inducting him into its athletic hall of hall of fame, a reminder that his best football came in Winston-Salem long before his NFL career reached its conclusion.
The Broncos pick that changed direction
Smith was taken by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft, but his time in the league is often remembered alongside the trade that sent him there. In 2010, the Seattle Seahawks used the pick obtained in that deal to select Earl Thomas in the first round.
That sequence has long kept Smith’s name in the conversation whenever the trade is revisited. Seattle landed a player who became a five-time NFL All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowler, while Smith’s own NFL career ended after the 2012 season, when he played just four games and was out of the league.
A brief NFL career, a lasting college legacy
Smith entered the professional game at 5-foot-9 and 193 pounds, and while his NFL run was short, his college production and recognition endured. The contrast between his Wake Forest achievements and the remembered draft-day fallout is part of why his name remained familiar to football fans.
What now stands out most is the full arc of that story: a highly decorated college player, a second-round NFL selection, and a career that ended far earlier than anyone would have expected. The news of his death has brought all of that back into view at once.
