Aaron Donald does not miss playing football

Aaron Donald does not miss playing football

Former Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald is one of the most dominant pass rushers in NFL History. But the eight-time All-Pro, who retired after the 2023 season, does not have any regrets about the game he loved.

(Quotes courtesy of Pro Football Talk.)

“As far as playing football, I don’t miss it,” Donald said recently on Pat Bostick’s Panthers Insider Show. “I don’t even have the passion or excitement to want to play football. I will always love football, but once you lose the passion, it was time to walk away.

“I worked my ass off to put myself in the position today to do things like this now. It truly is special. It’s emotional and I get to share these moments with my family, my kids. … I always set goals for myself to do so many special things, but just putting the body of work in and really putting the time in and really working my behind off.”

Donald, who turns 34-years-old on Thursday, retired after 10 seasons in March of 2024. He was the franchise’s No. 13 overall selection in 2013, recording 111.0 career sacks with 176 tackles for loss, 260 quarterback hits, 24 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries over his 10-year career. He made the Pro Bowl in every season of his career with eight All-Pro teams and three Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2017, 2018 and 2020.

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He led the NFL in sacks in 2018 (20.5) while tallying a league-most in tackles-for-loss in 2018 and 2019. The scariest part is that he was double-teamed every play … yet still found a way to make a ginormous impact on every snap he was on the field.

Nobody was as dominant as him as an interior pass rusher during his playing career; you could argue he was the most dominant ever, but that is a different discussion for a different today. While the Rams’ pass rush remained lethal last year behind the emergence of first-round rookie Jared Verse, it didn’t always feel right not watching Donald wreak havoc against opposing offenses.

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