Aaron Donald

Aaron Donald

Aaron Charles Donald is an American football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. Donald was drafted by the Rams with the thirteenth pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has been selected to six Pro Bowls in his six years into the league and has twice been named as the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year. In 2019 he was ranked as the best player in the NFL by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players.

About Aaron Donald in brief

Summary Aaron DonaldAaron Charles Donald is an American football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. He played college football at Pittsburgh, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American. Donald was drafted by the Rams with the thirteenth pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has been selected to six Pro Bowls in his six years into the league and has twice been named as the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Donald has been cited as one of the greatest defensive tackles of all time. In 2019 he was ranked as the best player in the NFL by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players. Donald set the record for fastest 40-yard dash time for a defensive tackle with a 4. 68 at the NFL Combine. His father Archie, whose football career ended due to a patellar fracture suffered while playing at Norfolk State, introduced Aaron to strength training when he was 12, seeking to provide more structure in his son’s life. Donald grew up in a working-class family in the city’s Lincoln–Lemington–Belmar neighborhood. He attended Penn Hills High School and was selected first team All-State Class AAAA in each of his final two seasons, and compiled 63 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 11 sacks as a senior.

He was rated as the 37th best defensive tackle in the nation by Rivals.com. He committed to hometown Pittsburgh over other scholarship offers from Toledo, Akron, and Rutgers. Donald made his NFL debut against the Minnesota Vikings and finished the 34–6 loss with four tackles. On September 7, 2014, he recorded three tackles and his first NFL sack during a 19–17 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2015, Donald began the season as the Rams’ starting defensive tackle and recorded a career-high nine total tackles and nine sacks. On December 13, 2015, he made five tackles and a career high three sacks against the Detroit Lions. He earned a Pro Bowl nomination for the first time in his career in his first career All-Pro Team nomination. He ended the season with 69 tackles, 11 sacks, a pass defended, a fumble recovery, and a forced fumble. In 2017, he was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team and was named the NFC Defensive player of the Week for his performance against the Seattle Seahawks in the season opener.