Aaron Donald Gives Key Details on Decision to Retire From Rams

The Los Angeles Rams will celebrate their legend and former Rams defensive tackle, Aaron Donald, throughout their Week 12 Sunday Night Football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It will be a game where the Rams house relives all the great moments that Donald gave them throughout his Hall of Fame career. Donald was the best defensive player of his ERA and one of the best players in NFL history.

Donald gave the Rams the ultimate possession when he brought a Super Bowl to Los Angeles. That was the goal for Donald, and he accomplished that. Donald had so many dominant games, and he will also be remembered in the league as a player no other team wanted to face.

October 15, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald (99) during the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Since retiring, the Rams coaches and players have always tried to bring Donald out of retirement because he still works out and stays in shape. But Donald says he is retired and does not want to come back.

Aaron Donald Recent Shocking Comments

“I knew from when I first walked on the field for training camp that it would be my last year,” Aaron Donald told reporters on Wednesday, four days before the team honors him during a Sunday night home game against the Buccaneers. “

I didn’t want to share that with you guys. I didn’t want to be a distraction, but my family knew. I knew. I’m pretty sure a couple of the coaches. . . . I know Sean [McVay] had a feel for it because we had conversations prior to me coming back."

Former Pittsburgh Panther and retired NFL defensive tackle Aaron Donald sheds a tear while speaking to the crowd during his jersey number retirement ceremony during halftime of the Pittsburgh Panthers vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA on November 15, 2025. | Michael Longo / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"I knew from the start of the season what it was going to be. That’s why my last year I tried to enjoy it every moment of it, taking it all in, the bad games and the good games. I was just trying to take it in like a kid playing all over again. I felt like I did that. I had a lot of fun my last season. To be with a young group that had a lot of success, to see those guys grow over the years, it’s pretty cool to watch them now.”

Donald on Missing Football

“No,” Donald said. “To be honest with you, I never have had an itch after I retired to like, ‘I want to come back, I want to play football still.’ You miss things from the game and for me, it’s not really playing the game. It’s being in the locker room, hanging with the guys, watching film, cracking jokes, more the comraderie with the fellas."

"I’m OK. I’m fulfilled. I’m happy with where I’m at in my life right now and what I’m doing and obviously everything I do I strive for greatness. I felt like I checked that off of football and in the next chapter of life, just transitioning all that into what I’m trying to do and build right now. I love the game of football. I just don’t love playing the game of football anymore.”

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