One of the greatest players of this generation – some say the greatest defensive tackle ever, although others would take issue with that – has announced his retirement.
Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald has decided he will call it a career at 32 years old.
Rumors had been floating for at least a year, maybe more, that Donald would retire at a young age, and that has happened.
Donald, who was named the Associated Press’ Defensive Player of the Year on three occasions (2017, 2018 and 2020), made the announcement on a few social media platforms on Friday.
“Throughout my career, I have given my everything to football both mentally and physically — 365 days a year was dedicated to becoming the best possible player I could be,” Donald wrote. “I respected this game like no other, and I’m blessed to be able to conclude my NFL career with the same franchise that drafted me. Not many people get drafted to a team, win a world championship with that team and retire with that team. I do not, and will not, take that for granted.”
Donald, who was drafted by the Rams in April, 2014, a first-round pick from Pitt, never played for another franchise. He was named the defensive rookie of the year that 2014 season, finished with 20 ½ sacks in the 2018 season, when the Rams would lose the Super Bowl that year to the New England Patriots. They would return to the Super Bowl a couple of years later, in Super Bowl LVI, a game that Donald help them win over the Cincinnati Bengals by forcing an incompletion late in the game by Joe Burrow – and then giving his now famous “put-a-ring-on-it” gesture.
Often drawing double-teams, drawing comparisons to greats from the past, Donald finished with 543 career tackles, 176 for loss, 24 forced fumbles, and likely most notably, 111 sacks.
He joins former New York Giants linebacker and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Lawrence Taylor and recently-retired former Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals great J.J. Watt as the only players in league history to be three-time defensive player of the year award-winners.
The Rams will have to press on without him, and it won’t be easy. Coach Sean McVay praised Donald, of course, in a statement Friday. “The great players in our league elevate the people around them, and Aaron has modeled the way for our team as long as I’ve been with the Rams. He’s an elite competitor, someone who leads by example in a way that’s authentic to him, and an exceptional teammate who inspires everyone around him to be the best version of themselves.”
