Point out Aaron Donald and almost everybody thinks Rams, the group he spent his complete 10-year NFL profession with and led to a Tremendous Bowl championship in 2022. Donald was a three-time NFL defensive participant of the yr, nine-time All-Professional and is considered one of many best defensive tackles of all time.
However earlier than Los Angeles there was Pittsburgh, the place Donald grew up and the place he went to varsity. And it’s the College of Pittsburgh the place Donald grew to become an unstoppable drive from 2010 to 2013, setting an NCAA report with tackles for loss by an inside lineman earlier than the Rams plucked him as their first-round draft decide.
So it’s Pitt that can retire Donald’s No. 97 on Nov. 15 throughout a house recreation towards Notre Dame, Panthers athletic director Allen Greene introduced Monday. Donald additionally might be enshrined within the Pitt Corridor of Fame this weekend, becoming a member of different iconic alumni names Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, Mike Ditka and Larry Fitzgerald.
“Born and raised in Pittsburgh, I’m grateful to the College of Pittsburgh for taking an opportunity on me when so many others wouldn’t,” Donald stated in a press release. “I achieved extra in my profession than I ever dreamed of, and for that I’m really blessed.
“To quickly see my quantity hanging alongside different Pitt greats is an honor past measure. I’ll all the time love this College. Hail to Pitt!”
Donald starred at Penn Hills Excessive, east of Pittsburgh. As a Pitt senior in 2013, Donald led the nation with 28.5 tackles for loss and added 11 sacks and 4 compelled fumbles. He was a unanimous first-team All-American and received each award that exists for a lineman: the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award.
“Aaron Donald is a proud Pittsburgher who embodies the perfect of what it means to be a Pitt Panther,” Greene stated. “His humility, dedication, and work ethic mirror the character of this group. Retiring his jersey honors not solely a rare athlete, however a pacesetter whose relentless pursuit of excellence has outlined his legacy.”
The primary flooring of Pitt’s Duratz Athletic Advanced was renamed the Aaron Donald Soccer Efficiency Heart in 2019, after Donald made a seven-figure present to this system. He additionally set a excessive bar for exercises, as Rams teammate Jared Verse discovered when he joined Donald for a punishing sequence of full-body circuit coaching in July — months after Donald retired.
“His spouse got here in laughing at me — I advised her to name the police,” Verse joked, including, “I attempted to lie and say my mother was at my home and I needed to go let her in. He advised me to present my keys to his administration or assistant and that they’d go let my mother in. So I wasn’t leaving.
“Completed the exercise. I’m useless drained, I’m exhausted. I had a plan to go bounce within the sauna afterwards, didn’t occur. I had plans to look at movie, didn’t occur. Went residence and I didn’t work out for an additional day and a half as a result of I couldn’t transfer my physique.”
Donald additionally based the AD99 Options Basis, which offers Pittsburgh’s underprivileged youth entry to training, vitamin and group involvement.
Accolades for his Rams profession might be forthcoming. Donald might be eligible for the NFL Corridor of Fame in 2029 and is taken into account a lock for first-ballot induction. The Rams have retired eight gamers’ jersey numbers and Donald’s No. 99 seemingly would be the ninth.
“I had the privilege — and generally the misfortune — of dealing with Aaron 14 occasions in his first seven years, and each snap was a reminder of his full domination,” stated Fitzgerald, an NFL Corridor of Famer who spent 17 years with the Arizona Cardinals. “As a Pitt man, I used to be full of satisfaction watching him redefine what it meant to play protection, however as an [NFL] opponent, I knew he was carving his identify into historical past at our expense.
“He wasn’t simply disruptive. He was harmful, bending complete offenses to his will and nonetheless making performs nobody else might make. Retiring his quantity is the proper tribute as a result of there’ll by no means be one other Aaron Donald, and there’ll by no means once more be one other 97 at Pitt.”
Uniform numbers retired by the Rams
- #7: Bob Waterfield
- #28: Marshall Faulk
- #29: Eric Dickerson
- #74: Merlin Olsen
- #75: Deacon Jones
- #78: Jackie Slater
- #80: Isaac Bruce
- #85: Jack Youngblood