Raiders linebacker Aldon Smith, right, sits on the bench during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Oakland, Calif., in September 2015. (AP file photo)

That conversation, and her death last year, were catalysts for Smith trying to get a handle on issues with alcohol, working his way into shape and earning reinstatement nearly five years after he was banished for substance-abuse violations.

“The way I look at where I am now to who I was in the past, I was a young 12-year-old or young teenage boy in a man’s body,” said Smith, who signed with the Cowboys in April and was reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week.

“The way I handled those issues, life, was in that immature manner. With the time I’ve had to work on myself, it’s allowed and given me the chance to grow into the man I am now. So the man on the inside fits how the man on the outside looks.”

The 30-year-old Smith last played in the NFL with Oakland in November 2015, when he was suspended for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. Before that, Smith was a rising star in San Francisco, making 33 1/2 sacks in his first two seasons.

Oakland Raiders' Aldon Smith cools off during a game against the Baltimore Ravens in Oakland, Calif., on Sept. 20, 2015. The now-Dallas Cowboys defensive end had already been suspended from the NFL for several years when his ailing grandmother implored him to change his life before she died of complications from Lou Gehrig's disease. That conversation, and her death in 2019, were catalysts for Smith trying to get a handle on issues with alcohol, getting in shape and ultimately earning reinstatement nearly five years after he was banished over multiple legal problems. (AP file photo)

Smith has been arrested at least six times, with multiple drunken-driving charges. He avoided jail time in a domestic case by serving a 90-day sentence as part of his alcohol and drug rehab.