Ex-NFL superstar practices helmet-to-helmet with 9-year-old son in alarming video

Aaron Donald is a lock first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer and a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

So given the 34-year-old Los Angeles Rams legend retired surprisingly early thanks in large part for his kids, why in the heck is he fooling around with helmet-to-helmet contact with his 9-year-old son Aaron Jr. in a video that has since gone viral on social media?

In the video, you can see Donald, wearing one of his Rams helmets, take hits from his son running at him, also in a helmet. Each time, the father and son make direct helmet-to-helmet contact, with the eight-time First Team All Pro laughing and shaking it off.

🚨🚨THIS IS WILD🚨🚨#RAMS LEGEND AARON DONALD TEACHING HIS SON HOW TO HIT.

AARON’S SON WAS RUNNING FULL-SPEED GOING HELMET TO HELMET WITH HIS FATHER.

Jeez 😳😳😳
pic.twitter.com/pdcYe1BDC7
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) August 14, 2025

The most disturbing part is right around the 25-second mark, Donald says, "Go a little harder," at which point his son obliges, and rubs his head afterwards because it stings too much.

There's a reason the NFL all the way down to to pee wee football have banned helmet-to-helmet hitting, because of the direct link to concussions and CTE exposure. And he's 9 years old!

So as a dad to a dad, even if it's probably soft by the Super Bowl champion, generational great defensive tackle's perspective, it's a terrible idea and setting an awful example.

When Donald retired, he told Sports Illustrated, "I’m thinking about my kids, first, always... When I came home, I just wasn’t myself. If my kids’ situation is not in order, my world is not in order. Honestly, it has always been about [them].”

Donald still lives in Los Angeles and is pursuing an acting career, and he still very much stays in shape like he could still easily play in the NFL, routinely doing workouts so intense, current Rams like reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse can't keep up.

#Rams DE Jared Verse describing what it’s like to train with Aaron Donald might be the best video you’ll see today 😂😂

pic.twitter.com/JBtUSrKLlU
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 25, 2025

Most of the comments in his original post applaud the #dadlife, and it's certainly awesome that he's such an engaged father to his three children, along with older sister Jaeda, and little brother, Aaric, but luckily one of the top responses says, “ how you get CTE so early “ Oklahomas in the living room😂"

Except, in this dad's opinion, this is no laughing matter.

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