Pain, no gain. That’s basically what you were in for when Aaron Donald lined up across from you all these years.
And now we, with Donald’s announcement of his retirement on Friday, can experience a little of what opposing quarterbacks have for the past decade whenever he had them in his crosshairs: Our loss, his gain.
NFL Sundays minus the baddest defensive lineman alive won’t be the same for anyone watching the sport, Rams fan or not. A real win for him, though, to be able to walk away on his own terms, a gladiator in good health, at peace and pleased about possibilities ahead.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but I am excited about the off-the-field possibilities,” Donald wrote in a social media post. “I’m looking forward to spending more time with my wife, Erica, and my kids, Jaeda, AJ, Aaric and Aali. The greatest reward was being able to play this game with them by my side.”
A giant loss for the Rams, for whom Donald’s presence was only ever a positive, because even during down periods, he made watching the team fun – but a reward for the league’s opposing quarterbacks, for whom Donald’s reign of terror finally is over.
Cheers to what’s next. Extending a big thank you to the Rams and all of the fans for your support over these last 10 years. Much love. 🍾🙏🏽💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/edGxkUYdLz
— AD_99 (@AaronDonald97) March 15, 2024
You probably could’ve heard an audible exhale go up across the nation when Donald hit “post” on his classy retirement announcement, though maybe exhale doesn’t do the prevailing sentiment justice.
The reaction was definitely more in line with the memes being bandied about, scenes of “Entourage’s” Johnny Drama falling to his knees in relieved exaltation: “Victory!!!”
Or Will Smith’s in the emotional final scene in “The Pursuit of Happyness,” when his character is overwhelmed when he receives the opportunity finally to live a prosperous life for which he’s toiled so long.
Or Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray – whom Donald once sacked with Murray’s own offensive lineman – replying to Donald’s retirement post on Friday morning, in all caps: “THANK GOD.” An echo of Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith’s hot-mic’d “Oh my God!” before he tossed away the football as if it was the hottest potato on record at the sight of Donald closing in.
Because, as NFL data science expert Cynthia Frelund explained in a 2022 Sports Illustrated article, the seemingly undersized 6-foot-1, 280-pound Aaron Donald was – like soccer all-timer Lionel Messi – inevitable.
Harder to fend off than any football player before: In a 42-season sample, no one had been double- or triple-teamed more than Donald, who dealt with two or more blockers on a given play on 56.7% of his snaps. And, at the same time, no player had ever generated a better pressure rate on plays when double- or triple-teamed – Donald’s an astounding 15.6%. Before him, the best pressure rates from players who were consistently double- and triple-teamed? Legends Lawrence Taylor and Reggie White, tied at 14.2%.
That’s why Rams coach Sean McVay knew – like we all knew – how Super Bowl LVI was going to end: “Aaron Donald’s gonna make a play here.”
And he did, that championship-sealing sack of Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow on fourth-and-1 adding to a weighty list of the defensive tackle’s accomplishments, further cementing his status as one of the Greatest Of All Time, and the Greatest Of his Generation – a real Van GoGh, this interior rusher making art of scrambling up opponents’ insides, making them see stars.
Ring him. King him. And let us all have a good cackle at the joker who compiled analysis for that “tweener” who’d earned All-American plaudits out of Pittsburgh ahead of the 2014 NFL Draft: “Marginal height and frame is nearly maxed out … hands are more active than strong … overpowered in the run game and ground up by double teams …”
There’s being wrong. And then there’s being wrong.
But everything Donald did in his 10-year tenure with the Rams has left everyone – even the most foolish among us – without even an iota of doubt; No. 99 is 100% a Hall of Famer.
The Rams’ three-time Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time first-team All-Pro, 10-time Pro Bowler, 2014 Defensive Rookie of the Year, one of the league’s best defensive players (111 career sacks) and best-compensated defensive earners (about $160 million)? He’ll be remembered forever as one of one.
One of the sport’s singular superstars, whose presence we’ll all miss (unless we’re quarterbacks and linemen who were forced to face him). A bad man and a good dude who couldn’t be stopped until he decided himself that it’s time.
After a decade of fans cheering for him, cheers to him, indeed.
"Dad, how good was Aaron Donald?" pic.twitter.com/VjWscZXc2L
— NFL (@NFL) March 15, 2024
