How Aaron Donald Knew His Unparalleled NFL Career Was Complete

Aaron Donald knew his career was complete on the night of Jan. 14. Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay got that message loud and clear the next day when the all-planet all-timer came into his office as the team was shaking off its playoff ouster in Detroit the night before.

“I’m full,” Donald simply told McVay.

Nothing was official yet. But the coach had all the information he needed.

“I’m just like, And you should be. You have every right to feel that way,” McVay said over the phone Sunday afternoon. “What an amazing thing. The words won’t do justice to the way that he so eloquently articulated it to me and just put it in a way that, as a human being, all you’re really looking for is to be at peace and to be happy. He was full. And, man, did you feel that. You’re just so happy because he earned it too.”

Coming out, Donald was seen by many, because of height, weight, and length deficiencies, as a player who would need to be in a certain scheme, and need to be paced, to be his best. But he proved himself to be a monster in, well, just about every system—from Fisher and Gregg Williams’s aggressive 4–3 to Wade Phillips’s attacking 3–4 to the more conservative Vic Fangio–inspired looks Brandon Staley and Raheem Morris ran. And Donald proved to be a player with unbelievable endurance: He played 90.41%, 83.57%, 84.47%, and 89.1% of the Rams’ defensive snaps in 2018, ’19, ’20 and ’20, respectively, which are absurdly high numbers for a defensive tackle.

Part of it was because physically, he was so strong, so quick, so low-to-the-ground and so good with his hands that trying to block him was like trying to catch a greased salmon. It was also, though, because his work didn’t stop with the physical stuff.

“He’s looking around and he’s the last one to put his hand in the ground,” Fisher says. “He knows protection. He knows which way the center’s turning. He knows where the help’s coming from. … He knows where the receivers are. He may not admit to it, but he knows formations. He knows exactly what to expect from a protection standpoint.

“The interesting thing was over the years, just talking to people, the offensive coordinator sitting up in the box calling the plays would have the mandate all week prior to playing the Rams, O.K., you guys got one job and that’s to tell me when he’s not in, when he’s taking a breath. They’d have like a separate call sheet for that. But when he’s in, I gotta stay with these calls.”

It all added up to, simply, one of the greatest careers a defensive player has ever had. Maybe the greatest.

“They asked me personally, where does he rank [of guys I coached]? He’s there with Reggie White, as far as the career,” Fisher says. “Different positions. Reggie was either, (a), a left end or (b), we put him on the nose. Reggie just couldn’t play any of the other positions, because it was awkward for him. The dominating player that he was, that’s where he kind of fit in. …

“Aaron was different. Just watch him. I’m so excited for him. I’m honored that I got to be somebody that got to be around him and the career that he had. When the great ones come, everybody wants to be part of those careers. It was just delightful to coach, he’s a great young man.”

Through our conversation, that’s what McVay kept coming back to, as well—how the person, the dad he is, the worker he is, the teammate he is, helps to complete the picture of just how impactful Donald has been on everyone around him.

Now, McVay is charged with charting life without him for the Rams.

The coach said he had a feeling, really, all year this might happen. Donald would take an extra moment during a game, or an additional few minutes with a young player after practice, or time to laugh with a buddy of his. He even went a little further with Christmas gifts this year, and those, to McVay, were all tells on where the veteran’s head was at. And maybe his way of leaving behind a little something extra for those he played with.

“I’m hopeful that he’ll be around a lot,” McVay says. “He’s welcome. I think the way that he lives on is you continue to honor his legacy and use him with the stories that you can tell to these guys. Fortunately, a lot of these guys have seen it, so when you reference it, they’ve seen it and you can use that as an example. His legend will never go away. There are stories upon stories. There’s evidence on the film. I think the things that resonate the most are usually storytelling when you’re really trying to paint a picture or teach a lesson.

“And he’ll be someone that I reference for the rest of my life as long as I’m fortunate enough to be coaching.”

nittany ram wrote:

Kroenke needs to erect a Ring of Honor in SoFi and Donald needs to be the first person on it. He should have a statue outside the main entrance as well.

Then they should animate the statue and draft it.

zn wrote:

nittany ram wrote:

Kroenke needs to erect a Ring of Honor in SoFi and Donald needs to be the first person on it. He should have a statue outside the main entrance as well.

Then they should animate the statue and draft it.

“With the 19th pick in the draft, the Los Angeles Rams select <pause for effect>… Android Donald.”

Unfortunately, everything that made AD a great DT would violate one or more of Asimov’s Laws of Robotics.

from https://www.si.com/nfl/2024/03/19/aaron-donald-retirement-nfl-draft-debate-rams

Donald’s second (and final) head coach Sean McVay had a pretty good idea of the future Hall of Famer’s talent when he took over the Rams in 2017. But, he’ll admit now there was no way he could know just how good Donald would get until he actually saw him day to day, and that’s the first thing McVay mentioned when I asked him what he thinks Donald has that no other player does.

“I think the number one trait he has is this mental toughness and this competitiveness internally, this intrinsic motivation,” McVay says. “I saw a documentary a few years ago. It’s called In Search of Greatness. It has a bunch of people that did a bunch of historical data and evidence on all these greats in a bunch of different sports arenas. They said there were two things that were common amongst all these people—there was a rage to master, and there was an ability to pick things up quickly in their domain.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been around a more driven player that stayed humble through the success, that had higher standards than he did of himself from a preparation standpoint, and then an ability to be accountable in his game. He’s so unique with his mental makeup, his upbringing. Then, he has this natural strength, leverage, explosiveness, get off. He has the most accurate hands I’ve ever seen.

“That’s the one thing that I think people don’t talk about enough is he never missed with his hands. He’d always get those inside positions. His ability to break down offensive linemen and understand the nuances of how their game shifts and alters through the different situations that arise during the course of a game, it’s unique. When you ask him about personnel evaluations, what he sees, what he picks up on, the guy is so smart in his thinking and is so invested in his craft. That consistency has just compounded over time.

this is a real bummer. i think the rams are still in contention for making the playoffs but that’s it. superbowl i think is out the door. you’re not just trying to replace a hall of famer. you’re trying to replace a guy against whom all others at his position and likely even other positions will be compared. i do think it’s useless to try and debate best defensive player ever. there’s just too many variables and it’s too subjective an argument. but the fact that he’s even in that realm to have such a discussion.

how in the hell do you replace him? yeah with multiple players sure. but the odds of that in one year are nigh impossible. i’m happy for him. i certainly don’t want him walking away from the game physically and mentally a shell of himself. for that i am actually truly proud of him. it doesn’t surprise me either. i partially expected him to do something like this. he just strikes me as that type of guy. but it is a bummer from a selfish point of view.

InvaderRam wrote:

this is a real bummer. i think the rams are still in contention for making the playoffs but that’s it. superbowl i think is out the door. you’re not just trying to replace a hall of famer. you’re trying to replace a guy against whom all others at his position and likely even other positions will be compared. i do think it’s useless to try and debate best defensive player ever. there’s just too many variables and it’s too subjective an argument. but the fact that he’s even in that realm to have such a discussion. how in the hell do you replace him? yeah with multiple players sure. but the odds of that in one year are nigh impossible. i’m happy for him. i certainly don’t want him walking away from the game physically and mentally a shell of himself. for that i am actually truly proud of him. it doesn’t surprise me either. i partially expected him to do something like this. he just strikes me as that type of guy. but it is a bummer from a selfish point of view.

Yeah, you dont replace him.   And the defense ‘could’ be really lame.   Dunno, yet.

But maybe they come up with a top-five offense, and a decent-enough defense.

They still have the best QB in the NFC.    Thats a great start.

w

v

zn wrote:

It’s just a matter of adding to the front 7. That’s not as simple as I just made it sound, but it’s not completely impossible either. The real unknown IMO is Shula as a DC.

Well, barring injury, i expect Shula to do well on the sideline.    And he has no injury-history.

You see. I have run circles around you, logically.

w

v

Zooey wrote:

zn wrote:

They have Jones and Turner in the front 7

Turner is going to get a good deal more attention this season, and I expect his effectiveness to drop. Nothing would make me happier than to be ridiculed for this comment at the end of the season.

Yeah, I was never sold on Turner. I think he’s probably ok, but just ok.

Zooey wrote:

Turner is going to get a good deal more attention this season, and I expect his effectiveness to drop.

yeah this is the problem. to what degree did the players around donald benefit from his presence. didn’t he play like an ungodly percentage of defensive snaps?

jones, turner, young, others will get more attention now. offenses don’t have to account for donald anymore. i’m not optimistic. but maybe they have another draft like they did last year. plus with a first round pick. so anything is possible.

InvaderRam wrote:

but maybe they have another draft like they did last year. plus with a first round pick. so anything is possible.

Well there have been good front 7s that didn’t have Aaron Donald to boost them. They are usually built as collections of good players.

The trick is to add more players to the 2 good ones they have. And maybe Young is the 3rd.

Like I said, since 2017 the Rams drafted a total of 3 front 7 guys in the top rounds (2 and 3), and 2 of those were in 2023. They just have to draft more.

The last highly ranked Rams defense before the McVay era was the 2001 D, which was 3rd in yards and 7th in points. Its front 7 included Wistrom, Zgonia, Fletcher, and Fields, with Little rotating in for 3rd down sets.

Tonight on #NFLChannel we celebrate the career of @AaronDonald97:

8p ET — Aaron Donald's Top Plays

8:30p ET — Mini Movie: Rams 2021 Super Bowl Season

9:06p ET — 2021 @RamsNFL

10:02p ET — Super Bowl LVI

11:01p ET — @RamsNFL vs @Bengals, Super Bowl LVI

1:47a ET –…

— NFL Media (@NFLMedia) March 18, 2024

A young Aaron Donald shows out in the Ketchup & Mustard game of 2015

This was one of those game that had me convinced that we not only had a Pro Bowler, but a perennial talented player on our hands.

Donald dismantled the Bucs offense all game to lead the Rams to victor! pic.twitter.com/zGzWsY91Hc

— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) March 20, 2024

Aaron Donald was on the verge of leaving the Rams until Sean McVay came Into the picture 😧 pic.twitter.com/88MDw9zNjC

— Rams Tapes 🥶 (@RamsTapes) March 22, 2024