I remember when Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals laid on the turf after the closer Aaron Donald put Joe Cool down in Superbowl LVI to close out the game and give the Rams the victory. PRICELESS!! The trash talking Bengals were taken out to the curb by the Rams wrecking machine, defensive tackle Aaron Donald. No cigar for Burrow as his ego deflated in the loss. Donald, since arriving in the NFL when he was drafted back when the Rams played in St.Louis back in 2014, has been the face of the defense. He instantly became the face of their the Rams franchise and was a big part of getting LA to two Superbowls. He racked up 111 sacks in ten seasons. Donald, like Barry Sanders, made the Pro Bowl each season they played. Donald, like Sanders, one of the best running backs of all-time as Aaron & one of the best at his positions of all-time, will hang up the spikes for good after ten seasons in the NFL. At the age of 32 years old, Donald says “I’m full,” and will retire from the grid iron set to write a new chapter in his life whatever that is.

Aaron Donald last year had 8 sacks with 28 solo tackles as he takes on double teams every game that opposing offenses scheme to block him in their game plan. Donald has not lost a step as he played in 154 career games and did not miss many. Donald is a guy that prepares his body into tremendous football shape 365 days a year so he can play at a high level each play on the field. No plays he runs half arsed. He has played for two cities since being drafted in St. Louis after two seasons in the Arches town, the Rams moved to the west coast and became LA again. He came in & won the Rookie of the Year. Donald is an 8x all-pro. He was named Hall of Fame to the all 2010’s decade team. He is a 3x AP Defensive Player of the Year. In 2018, Donald had 20.5 sacks in regular season as no one could stop him because he was a wrecking ball to opposing teams’ offensive linemen. Donald’s career regular season stats he has 340 solo tackles. Total of 543 tackles in all. He forced 24 fumbles & recovered 7 total. He leaves the Rams as the all-time leader in sacks. Deacan Jones played with the Rams from 1961-71 and he did tally 173.5 total sacks but played for other teams. Sacks were not an official stat at the time when Jones played. Leonard Little is second all-time for Donald as he played in a Rams uniform from 1998-2009 and tallied 87.5 sacks. Kevin Greene, who made the Hall Of Fame in 2016, had 72.5 sacks in Rams uniform. Fred Dryer, aka Hunter, a football player turned actor had 74 sacks in his ten seasons as a Ram, but the stat did not count when he played.

Donald would finish number 28 all-time on the NFL sack list with those 111 as Bruce Smith, former Bills defensive end, leads the NFL with 200. Donald would have climbed those charts easily and could have been in the top ten all-time if he continued to play.

Calvin Johnson aka Megatron was one of the most feared wide receivers in the game when he played. He lasted 9 seasons in the NFL and walked away early. Johnson and Barry Sanders, X-Lions, hung up the spikes early but both became Hall Of Famers because like Aaron Donald, they came in and left the league making a impact for their team in every game every year for their team. Sanders was 1,500 yards short of Walter Payton’s career rushing record when he walked away.

Now the record belongs to Dallas Cowboy Emmitt Smith, who could even hold Sanders or Payton’s jock. You better believe Donald will be a first ballot Hall of Famer when his name first appears on the ballot. “I’m Complete, I’m burn’t out and it’s time to move on,” he said when Donald broke the news about his time being up on the gridiron.

I don’t think any experts had the Rams even making the playoffs as they were a wild card last year. The Rams team has been gutted like a fish from their Superbowl team that has now many younger players that have shown they have talent. The Rams would lose to the Detroit Lions in the wild card round. The Rams could be on the rise again, but Donald leaving could set them back. Who knows? Sean McVay has shown he is one of the best head coaches in the game. Donald is what winning teams need… a closer. Every team needs a stud at the quarterback position. If your team does not have the ball at the end of a game, they need a guy like Donald to close out the victory like he did to Joe Burrow in that Superbowl. Donald has done that in many games as he registered 260 Quarterback hits. A sack is the bomb. Sometimes a hit or the pressure can do wonders messing with the opposing quarterback’s mind set. Donald was one of the best closers in the game. I love the work ethic. I love the mind set to walk away at the right time. Some guys hang on too long and by the time they get released, it looks bad. Or in another uniform at the end it looks bad. Donald played his entire career in a Rams uniform, and I always like guys like that. Not a Rams fan, but they have had some great players like every team. They have guys like Aaron Donald and Kurt Warner with his under dog story that you do become fans of these guys. I will mention Fred Dryer even though I did not see him play. Chris Everett, not the tennis player, who punched Jim Rome for mocking him about being the female athlete with the same name.

Everett played quarterback for the Rams in the late 1980’s into the 1990’s and still owns top passing records for the LA franchise. Everett won some big games in a Rams uniform. Donald will go down as a rock star because he helped the Rams to three NFC Championships. Two Superbowls. Winning one of them. The loss came to Tom Brady and the Patriots which has happened to many teams. In the most boring Superbowl ever, it was a 13-3 loss. Think about that. Donald’s defense held Brady’s offense to only 13 points. If you told me before, I would say the other team would win the game. Many franchises can’t say they even made it to the Superbowl in the last ten seasons. If you want to be the best at what you do, Aaron Donald’s work ethic and passion is what you want in your daily life to succeed.