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'Nervous is an Understatement': Sean McVay on Aaron Donald Offseason Retirement Rumors cover image

'Nervous is an Understatement': Sean McVay on Aaron Donald Offseason Retirement Rumors

Connor Zimmerlee
Jun 9, 2022
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McVay recently joined the I Am Athlete podcast and discussed the Aaron Donald deal.

When the Los Angeles Rams announced that they had agreed to restructure Aaron Donald's contract, thus ensuring he wouldn't be retiring quite yet, a collective sigh of relief was let out by Rams fans and players alike. 

However, the biggest sigh of relief might have come from Rams' coach Sean McVay, who was recently on the I Am Athlete podcast, where he discussed how he felt about the possibility of Donald retiring. 

“Nervous is an understatement." 

McVay acknowledged that Donald retiring was a real possibility and not simply a tactic to holdout and get more money. He also recognized that if anyone had earned the right to retire early, it would be Donald.

"He called me and this was a possibility and I said, ‘Listen, if there’s anybody after eight years that has earned the right to be able to step away on his own terms because of everything you’ve accomplished, you want to spend more time with your family, if you’re ready for whatever these next endeavors in your life are gonna be,’ he’s gonna be successful at whatever he does."

While McVay realized that Donald might genuinely retire and that he had more than earned the right to step away after having such a historic career, he made sure to let him know that money should not be the reason to retire, if he would have stepped away. 

“However, if this is financially driven, shame on me, shame on you if we can’t get this thing figured out because we’ve got your agents, we’ve got our guys in the front office that are committed to trying to figure out a good collaboration where you get rewarded the way you deserve that also fits within our team, and then we’ve got a willing owner in Stan Kroenke that wants to try to be able to do that, and fortunately, we were able to get that done. And seeing him sign is something I’m really happy for.”

With Donald returning for the 2022 season, the Rams defense is set to yet again be one of the best defensive units in the NFL, as the team looks to run it back and repeat as Super Bowl champions. 

You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98

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