When Los Angeles Rams legendary defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced his retirement from the NFL earlier this month, it came as at least a bit of a surprise to some, but Rams head coach Sean McVay seemed to know that it was coming throughout the season.
During a recent interview at the NFL’s league meetings over the weekend, Sean McVay said that he and Aaron Donald shared an “unspoken understanding” that this would be his final season in the NFL.
“Aaron and I have such a special relationship,” McVay told Steve Wyche of NFL Network. “You know being around somebody as long as I’ve been around. When they are savoring moments, they are taking it in and without having to say, there was kind of unspoken understanding that I had that this was probably going to be his last year. What a great job he did leading, influencing and affecting throughout the course of his career, but it was really on display this year. With how young we were, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We’ve known for a while and you never replace an Aaron Donald. Fortunately, we had a little bit of time to get our ducks in a row but man, there’s truly one of one when you talk about him.”
Obviously, Donald will go down as one of the most dominant players in the history of the league and perhaps the best defensive tackle to ever play the game. He will be missed greatly by the Rams next season.
