{"id":1034656,"date":"2026-08-31T09:16:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T09:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1034656\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T09:16:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T09:16:25","slug":"aaron-donald-ends-retirement-returns-to-los-angeles-rams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1034656\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Donald ends retirement, returns to Los Angeles Rams"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Aaron Donald returned to the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> on Sunday, ending his retirement after 2 1\/2 years to chase another Super Bowl title. <\/p>\n

The 35-year-old Donald made his decision after several weeks of discussion<\/a> and nearly three months of intensive workouts for a star defensive lineman who reigned atop his position in a Rams uniform from 2014 until his retirement in early 2024. <\/p>\n

Donald joined a light practice at the Rams\u2019 training complex later Sunday, shaking hands and exchanging hugs with Myles Garrett and the rest of his teammates, both old and new. <\/p>\n

While he hasn\u2019t decided whether he will play in the Rams\u2019 season opener against the 49ers in Australia next month, Donald is eager to complete a comeback that seemed improbable only three months ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cDo I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes,\u201d Donald said. \u201cDo I feel like I can still be myself? One hundred percent, and if I didn\u2019t feel like that, I wouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d <\/p>\n

Donald agreed to a one-year contract, and ESPN reported he will make at least $20 million in an incentive-laden deal. <\/p>\n

Donald became one of the greatest defensive players of his era during a decade spent entirely with the Rams in St. Louis and Los Angeles. He won three AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards while earning 10 Pro Bowl selections, eight All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl ring before he retired somewhat abruptly<\/a> following the 2023-24 season.<\/p>\n

After two years of tending to his business interests and enjoying ample family time, Donald began to entertain the notion of a comeback this summer after the Rams traded young lineman Jared Verse in a deal for Garrett<\/a>, one of Donald\u2019s few peers in contemporary defensive line play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI already thought it was a stacked D-line with Verse … and then you bring a guy like Myles Garrett, a generational talent, and then it\u2019s like, \u2018Gosh, that could be fun,\u2019\u201d Donald said with a grin.<\/p>\n

Donald and Garrett have combined to win five of the AP\u2019s past nine Defensive Player of the Year awards, including two of the past three for Garrett with the Cleveland Browns. While Garrett said he wouldn\u2019t attempt to influence Donald\u2019s decision<\/a>, the two have exchanged numerous text messages while Donald went through the training necessary to become his teammate.<\/p>\n

With MVP Matthew Stafford returning to lead the league\u2019s most productive offense, Los Angeles was already the betting favorite in most sportsbooks to win its second Super Bowl title under coach Sean McVay even before Donald\u2019s comeback. Along with Garrett, Los Angeles added cornerbacks Trent McDuffie<\/a> and Jaylen Watson from Kansas City to a defense that now looks more equipped to keep pace with the Rams\u2019 offense, which returns every major contributor around Stafford.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is a complete team with me here or without me here, so for me to even have the opportunity to be a part of this, to be with this team, I take nothing for granted,\u201d Donald said. \u201cIt\u2019s a blessing to be retired from the game for two years and then have the opportunity to come back and be a part of something special.\u201d<\/p>\n

McVay has seemed confident for weeks that Donald was leaning toward a return. Donald said he finalized his decision to return about two weeks ago after being in almost daily contact with McVay for several weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe means a lot to me, and it\u2019s way bigger than football,\u201d McVay said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of history. There\u2019s a lot of experiences that we\u2019ve shared, a lot of love for each other\u2019s families. I\u2019m excited to start this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald stayed in decent shape during his retirement, and he was pleasantly surprised by the way his body responded to its return to NFL-level training. He also says his famed defensive line technique hasn\u2019t declined.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in a football mindset for the last 14 weeks,\u201d Donald said. \u201cIf anything, it\u2019s just getting back on the grass and knocking the rust off as far as playing football again, 11 on 11. Work on my eyes, getting the feel for the game, certain reaction things that made me who I am. I put myself in the best position the best way I can with training to get to where I\u2019m at now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald\u2019s 111 career sacks are the Rams\u2019 franchise record and the second-most in NFL history among linemen who primarily played on the interior. His ability to generate a pass rush between the tackles is the primary basis of his greatness, but Donald also was a run-stuffer whose agility and technique forced defenses to double-team him regularly, freeing up his teammates to excel.<\/p>\n

The decision resets Donald\u2019s eligibility clock for his all-but-automatic induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he\u2019s much more interested in seizing the strong opportunity to play for a second ring while lining up alongside Garrett and talented young contributors Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske on what should be an opponents\u2019 nightmare of a defensive front.<\/p>\n

Donald joins a significant group of recent NFL stars who have ended retirements and returned to this punishing sport, including Philip Rivers, Jason Witten, Marshawn Lynch, Rob Gronkowski and Eric Weddle<\/a>, the safety who came back from 2 1\/2 years away and joined Donald on the Rams\u2019 short-handed defense for its playoff run to a championship in early 2022.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See AP\u2019s full NFL coverage here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Aaron Donald returned to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, ending his retirement after…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1034657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[10],"tags":[68771,106730,43871,276,341782,1318,7146,414047,146282,7143,9006,56082,22567,1232,9341,56018,6658,32896,62,48763,146306,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1034656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-aaron-donald","tag-braden-fiske","tag-byron-young","tag-california","tag-eric-weddle","tag-football","tag-jared-verse","tag-jason-witten","tag-jaylen-watson","tag-kobie-turner","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-myles-garrett","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-football","tag-philip-rivers","tag-rob-gronkowski","tag-sean-mcvay","tag-sports","tag-sports-retirements","tag-trent-mcduffie","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117189370726119418","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1034657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}