Why is Aaron Donald retiring? Rams star bids farewell to fans, NFL after standout 10-year career

Aaron Donald has announced that he would retire from football after 10 seasons despite still being one of the best defensive tackles in the game.

In a statement announcing his decision on Friday, the 32-year-old DT said that he had been toying with the idea of retiring for the last two years. During the Super Bowl run in 2021–2022, he first made hints that his time in the NFL was short. He took months to decide whether or not to return in 2022.

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, he even disclosed that he sent the Rams a retirement letter during the offseason, but the team talked him out of it. The letter was never submitted to the NFL.

Subsequently, Donald and the Rams worked out a revised deal that made him the best-paid defensive player in the history of the NFL on yearly basis.

The defensive tackle told reporters that he had aches and pains that are a little more persistent at his age, which sparked rumors that he would retire after the 2022 campaign. He then claimed he could not, however, end his career on a depressing note due to the Rams' dismal 5-12 campaign.

Donald has finally acknowledged that he was starting to feel the effects of the everyday pressure to continue being a top NFL player. According to Ian Rapoport, Donald also believes he has completed all the obligations he owed to himself and achieved all of his goals.

Aaron Donald's career statistics in review

Aaron Donald was picked by the Los Angeles Rams in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft and played for them his whole career.

Donald consistently used his exceptional quickness and game sense to inflict misery on offenses over his career, despite not being as large as many defensive tackles in the league.

Aaron Donald played in 16 games this past season as the Los Angeles Rams made a postseason comeback, following his 11-game season in 2022. He was selected to the first-team All-Pro after finishing the season with 53 tackles and eight sacks.

Upon his retirement, Donald holds the record for the most sacks in Los Angeles Rams history with 111. He also racked up 543 tackles, 24 forced fumbles and 21 passes defended in 154 career regular-season games.

Donald is one of only two defensive linemen in NFL history to have amassed up to 100 sacks. He is also one of only three players to have earned Defensive Player of the Year three times.

During his Hall of Fame-caliber career, Donald was selected to the first-team All-Pro eight times and the Pro Bowl 10 times.

The Rams' 2022 Super Bowl run was greatly aided by Aaron Donald, who is most known for applying the pressure that resulted in Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow throwing an incomplete pass on the game's last play, which the Rams won 23–20.

Donald will surely go down as one of the all-time great defensive players. He will also be remembered with the likes of Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson as having retired far before the end of their prime.