Aaron Donald's NFL career marked by astonishing run of dominance, Super Bowl brilliance with Rams
When the Los Angeles Rams honored Aaron Donald's retirement Friday afternoon, the social media post was headlined "Quarterbacks Rejoice." There isn't a more accurate way to sum up Donald's decade of dominance and disruption as one of the best interior defensive linemen in history. Take it from Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, who had the misfortune of having to face Donald twice a year in the NFC West: "Thank God," he wrote.
It is difficult to overstate Donald's impact from the moment he arrived in the NFL. After an All-American career at the University of Pittsburgh, Donald was selected 13th overall by the then-St. Louis Rams in the 2014 NFL Draft. He went on to be named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year three times in a four-year span (2017, 2018, 2020). Only J.J. Watt and Lawrence Taylor won the award as many times as Donald did. He was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014 and an eight-time first-team All-Pro.
And he accomplished something incredibly rare for even the greatest defensive players -- he made a Super Bowl-winning play for his team. With just 43 seconds left in Super Bowl LVI, the Cincinnati Bengals were in Rams territory, facing fourth-and-1 and trying to extend a drive to attempt an overtime-forcing field goal, and Donald burst pass the Bengals' offensive line and spun Joe Burrow around, an almost exact replica of the play Donald made to secure victory in the NFC Championship Game. After Burrow's pass floated to the ground, Donald pointed to his own ring finger -- his play had filled the only void left on his resume, and it had given the Rams, who had moved to Los Angeles a few years earlier and were seeking an identity, their signature moment. As he celebrated the championship won on
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