Former Los Angeles Rams superstar Aaron Donald once again shuts down the idea of an NFL comeback.
Former Los Angeles Rams defensive superstar Aaron Donald once again shuts down the idea of an NFL comeback.
On a recent appearance on the "Not Just Football with Cam Heyward" podcast, Donald revealed that he is completely done with the game of football.
"People ask me that all the time, 'You sure you don’t want to play?' I’ll be like 'To be honest with you, I have no urge to play football no more,'" Donald said. "Sometimes in the back of my head I be like, 'Do I want to go out there again?' I think about it and I’m like 'Nah man.'
"I was a guy that never wanted to play forever. But I always said I was going to do eight years and be done. I just happen to win a Super Bowl my eighth year. I’m like 'Man, this is destiny.'
Donald spent 10 incredible seasons with the Rams organization, two in St. Louis and eight in Los Angeles. While he retired at the ripe age of 32, there is no arguing that he could still be playing football at a high level.
However, the future Hall of Famer did all he possibly could in his career. In Donald’s illustrious career, he dominated, winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards, 10 Pro Bowls, 8 First-Team All-Pros, and being named to the NFL's 2010s All-Decade team.
Donald had said time and time again that he only wanted to play eight seasons in the NFL; however, there were other plans in store for him.
The former first round pick is arguably the greatest defender of this generation.
Although he was considered undersized for an interior defensive lineman, Donald more than made up for it with elite traits that separated him from everyone else at his position.
Donald leaned on rare explosiveness, exceptional leverage, and an unmatched work ethic to consistently overpower much larger opponents and redefine what dominance on the defensive interior looks like. At just 6-foot-1 and around 280 pounds, he routinely played far bigger than his frame suggested.
The Rams would be even more lethal on the defensive end if Donald were to make a comeback; however, Los Angeles is just fine without him. The team is led by a core four on the defensive line with Jared Verse, Braden Fiske, Kobue Turner, and Byron Young.
Verse and Fiske were added after Donald announced his retirement, and they are certainly doing their part to lead the Rams to one of the best defensive units in the league.