Aaron Donald is one of the best and most successful NFL players of all time. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams as the 13th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and has since gone on to have an incredible career. He is a five-time Pro Bowl selection and a six-time All-Pro selection and has earned the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award twice. Aaron Donald is one of the most talented and successful players in the league and has made an enormous impact on the game of football.
Table of Contents:
1. Early Life and Education
2. College and NFL Drafting
3. Professional Football Career
4. Off-field Life and Community Involvement
5. Accomplishments and Awards
6. Aaron Donald Quotes
- Early Life and Education
Aaron Donald was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 23, 1991. He attended Penn Hills High School and was recognized as one of the best defensive players in the state. Donald was a three-time all-state selection, and an All-American his senior year. After high school, Donald went on to the University of Pittsburgh and immediately made an impact by earning the team’s MVP award after his freshman season, becoming the first true freshman to win the award in school history. Donald was also a three-time finalist for the Bednarik Award, which is given to the nation’s top defensive player.
- College and NFL Drafting
Donald was a standout while at Pittsburgh and the Rams recognized his talent, eventually drafting him in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Donald quickly proved why he deserved the selection, recording 47 tackles and 9 sacks during his rookie season. His 9 sacks during the 2014 season set the team record, and two years later, he was selected to his first Pro Bowl. Donald also earned First Team All-Pro honors during his second year in the league. The Rams signed him to a six-year contract extension that same year, making him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.
- Professional Football Career
Donald has exceeded all expectations since being drafted by the Rams in 2014. Not only has he set numerous team records and earned numerous accolades, but he has also become one of the most feared defensive players in the league. Donald has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times and has been named an All-Pro six times in his first six seasons. Additionally, Donald was the 2017 and 2018 Defensive Player of the Year. In 2018, Donald had a league-leading 20.5 sacks.
- Off-field Life and Community Involvement
Off the field, Donald is an advocate for several social causes. During the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Donald showed his support by starting the Aaron Donald Foundation, which focuses on providing aid to those affected by police brutality. Donald is also very involved in the local community and is an advocate for education and youth sports. He visits numerous schools in the Pittsburgh area to promote education and donated a large portion of his signing bonus to the University of Pittsburgh.
- Accomplishments and Awards
Since being drafted, Donald has achieved several accomplishments and awards. He has earned five Pro Bowl selections and six All-Pro selections from 2014-2019. He was also the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018. Donald holds numerous NFL records, including the most sacks by a defensive tackle in a single season, and the most sacks by a rookie in Rams team history. Additionally, he was named the NFL Alumni Defensive Lineman of the Year for 2020.
Aaron Donald Quotes
“Whenever you’re compensated and can be a piece of history, it’s an exceptional minute” – Aaron Donald
“I’m a football player, you know? My film talks for me” – Aaron Donald
“Everything I can do is play football, put it on film” – Aaron Donald
“We generally figure we can find a workable pace, put focus on him” – Aaron Donald
“My family, ain’t not any more battling to take care of this tab, take care of that tab” – Aaron Donald
“At the point when I have one-on-ones, I for the most part win those” – Aaron Donald
“Pittsburgh’s home. This is the place everything began. This is continually going to be home. I generally need to return to Pittsburgh and complete some work.” – Aaron Donald
“After games, you consider the play you missed” – Aaron Donald
“Clearly, you have a natural ability to do things that many individuals can’t do yet I really put the group of work in to get more grounded, get quicker, attempting to chip away at my method, attempting to do seemingly insignificant details that individuals normally don’t do, simply attempting to improve my game” – Aaron Donald
“I despise everything needs to make more plays, however you realize it will come. You gotta continue playing, playing hard, keep on considering, keep on showing signs of improvement, chipping away at my procedure, and it will come. Just gotta continue working” – Aaron Donald
“I sense that I’m an inside person, I have a feeling that I’m a three-tech or nose handle” – Aaron Donald
“I have family, individuals that truly care and need to see me succeed and push me” – Aaron Donald
“It’s what you work for and pound for. Just to get out there and play the game and attempt to assist your group with winning. What’s more, in doing that, you simply help yourself” – Aaron Donald
“It’s an entirely distinctive world once you get into games. You have individuals really attempting to hit you, the speed of the game’s much quicker, you have a variety of things you have to check and see. It’s an entire diverse world up there once game opportunity arrives” – Aaron Donald
“That is the thing that you long for. How you not going to consider making the enormous play, the game-evolving play?” – Aaron Donald
“You have folks that are everywhere throughout the field that are making a great deal of plays, you’ll win a ton of games in the NFL” – Aaron Donald
“Abandoning a heritage is colossal” – Aaron Donald
“Whenever you’re compensated for the achievement you have, you will be glad since you put the collection of work in. A great deal of difficult work. A ton of preparing. A great deal of things you do off camera” – Aaron Donald
“In the event that anything, it just persuades me to work somewhat harder. Whenever your association contributes a major measure of cash like that into you, you need to do everything and more to express gratitude toward them” – Aaron Donald
“You found a workable pace understudy of the game. You found a good pace game before you can go out there and play quickly” – Aaron Donald
“If that you play against a Peyton Manning, that is an incredible quarterback, however, I’d preferably have that quarterback that stays still. You have a superior possibility of finding a good pace. The portable quarterbacks, they do various stuff” – Aaron Donald
“You can never be fulfilled until you are finished playing this game. So I’m simply working” – Aaron Donald
“I believe I can surge the passer well. I have an inclination that I can play the run far superior to what I did beginning to when I got in my senior year to the extent of making plays in the backfield and simply having the option to separate film significantly better” – Aaron Donald
“My senior year I believed I put significantly more energy into the offseason to make much more occur. Going out my senior year, I had an inclination that I did all that I needed to do and that’s just the beginning. I had an inclination that I commanded and I feel good heading off to the following level and that I’m prepared” – Aaron Donald
“Whenever you can get the show on the road back to the offense and they put focus on the board, you can dominate matches” – Aaron Donald
“It’s a cerebral pain, pursuing a person around. I’d preferably play against a quarterback that sits still” – Aaron Donald
“I have a decent group, got extraordinary operators that I know are going to deal with the business side, and I trust those folks” – Aaron Donald
“We simply need to attempt to make a move. We go week to week attempting to discover approaches to dominate matches. That is the thing that it comes down to” – Aaron Donald
“There’s consistent opportunity to get better. That is my attitude” – Aaron Donald
“I realize you ain’t going to win each and every one-on-one, yet in my brain, I should” – Aaron Donald
“You have folks that are everywhere throughout the field that are making a great deal of plays, you’ll win a ton of games in the NFL” – Aaron Donald
“One of the eminent football players, Aaron Donald was known for his charm and valor. He was loved by the entire America and particularly by those who love football. His quotes and messages are the best.” – Aaron Donald
“God simply honored me with speed and speed, I presume” – Aaron Donald
“I’m continually going to be my most noticeably terrible pundit” – Aaron Donald
“Whenever you go on the field, you need to rule as a unit” – Aaron Donald
“There are a ton of good football players in the alliance. You simply attempt to keep yourself grounded” – Aaron Donald
“Whenever you get compensated for all the work you put into this game, you will be upbeat about it” – Aaron Donald
“It’s my mentality that I’m not where I need to be. I despise everything need to be better, and I simply need to remain humble about it. It is anything but a demonstration. It’s exactly how I am” – Aaron Donald
“McVay is an extraordinary mentor and I feel that he’s savvy” – Aaron Donald
“When you begin agonizing over things, you get down about yourself, whatever it might be” – Aaron Donald
“At the point when plays present themselves, I can’t miss them. I found a good pace” – Aaron Donald
“For whatever length of time that we’re winning, I’m fine” – Aaron Donald
“I feel like I’m a balanced football player” – Aaron Donald
“You need to keep an eye out in light of the fact that being a competitor and playing at the school level with the chance to go the NFL, you’re under the magnifying instrument and everyone’s viewing. There are individuals that admire us. So you need to keep an eye out for what you do and who you’re near” – Aaron Donald
“I’m going to attempt to carry out my responsibility and attempt to make the same number of plays as I can and help my group win” – Aaron Donald
“It isn’t so difficult to be acceptable, you can be acceptable off crude ability. Yet, I have a feeling that it’s that additional progression, doing work and placing an assortment of work in and doing things when no one else is viewing. At the point when no one else is guiding you to do it, you’re driving yourself to do it” – Aaron Donald
“Like I generally state, man, whenever you got playmakers around you it makes your activity simpler” – Aaron Donald
“Whenever you win you will be glad. In any case, whenever it’s an extraordinary divisional rival, when it’s a standard pooch battle, to beat the competition at their home is a great inclination” – Aaron Donald
“You imagine making a game-evolving play, that is what you’re here for” – Aaron Donald
“I grew up with a ton of companions that had a ton of capacities to do a variety of things and picked various courses and it was certifiably not an extraordinary result for them” – Aaron Donald
Source: Wikipedia ESPN ProFootballReference NFL Instagram SportingNews TheRams FoxSports SI Forbes