National Football League

Aaron Donald changed the game for defensive tackles: 'He's one of one'

Published Mar. 15, 2024 3:26 p.m. ET

He's different.

That's the best way former Los Angeles Rams defensive line coach Eric Henderson could describe his good friend Aaron Donald, who announced his retirement from football on Friday.

"The best part about him is the human being," Henderson said when asked what makes Donald one of the best to ever play. "He makes my job easy because of the way he was raised. I always want to just thank his parents, his mom and his dad, for raising such an awesome young man.

"But he's a guy that has all the tools, when you talk about the above-the-neck approach, knowing what he needs to do to get himself in the best shape or the most mentally prepared on a weekly basis. He does all those things. … He doesn't ever want to be outworked."

Few defensive players in NFL history can compete with Donald's dominance on the field. During his 10-year career, he was named AP Defensive Player of the Year three times — the only other players to accomplish that feat are J.J. Watt and Lawrence Taylor. Donald was an eight-time All-Pro and a 10-time Pro Bowl selection. He and Hall of Famer Barry Sanders are the only players in league history to play at least 10 seasons and be selected to the Pro Bowl in each season, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

Donald will join Sanders in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as soon as he's eligible.

"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," coach Sean McVay said. "He's an elite competitor, someone who leads by example in a way that's authentic to him."

Added Rams GM Les Snead: "There will never be another Aaron Donald."

Maybe Snead is onto something. Donald's 111 sacks put him at No. 28 on the all-time list and second among defensive tackles to Hall of Famer John Randle (137.5). Even more startling for a defensive tackle, Donald is No. 3 in league history in tackles for loss with 176.

At 6-foot-1 and 280 pounds, the Pittsburgh product changed the way defensive tackles are viewed because of his ability to create plays from the interior of the line. His combination of strength and quickness as a defensive tackle was unique and unmatched, forcing offensive lines to double-team him on virtually every play.

"Aaron Donald heard and silenced all the doubters who said he was ‘too short' & his ‘arms aren't long enough,'" former NFL scout and head of the Senior Bowl Jim Nagy wrote on X. "So he came to Mobile and put all of that s--- to bed. The great ones got nothing to hide. In hindsight, hard to believe AD99 had skeptics."

McVay would often joke that the Rams had to give Donald a break during practice at times so the offense could run plays unimpeded. His complete dominance from the time he entered the league as the No. 13 overall selection in the 2014 draft through the 2023 season places Donald among the best NFL defenders ever.

His best year came in the 2020 season, when he led L.A.'s defense to the league's No. 1 ranking. Then during the Rams' Super Bowl victory, the defense held Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals to just 20 points, including a pressure late in the game by Donald to force a bad throw and seal the win.

After the play, he pointed to his finger and said "ring me" as teammates swarmed him, the pinnacle of his NFL career. Donald mulled retirement after that game but played two more seasons before hanging up his cleats on Friday.

"He's one of one," McVay said.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.