Categories
California Sports

LA Rams: Aaron Donald might be retiring after Super Bowl victory

Los Angeles Rams have been celebrating after securing the Vince Lombardi trophy following the Super Bowl LVI on Sunday at SoFi Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals. One player who particularly stood out was defensive tackle Aaron Donald who successfully helped clinch the 23-20 victory after successfully sacking Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.

“There’s so many guys on our team that deserve this,” Rams QB Matthew Stafford said, praising the players who were able to contribute on and off the field to a post-game media conference.

For the three-time defensive player of the year, Donald might hang up his boots after his final fight tonight. However, until now, there is no official statement from either the team or Donald himself.

The statement

NBC reporter Rodney Harrison spoke to Donald earlier and reported, “He’s big on legacy.”

Harrison added during a live broadcast, “He doesn’t want to be known as a defender that accomplished so many individual things and never won a Super Bowl. But he also told me this: If he wins a Super Bowl, there’s a strong possibility he could walk away from the game and retire.”

Then, Donald’s retirement news cycle started happening.

Post-game interview, the eight-time Pro-Bowler told NBC, “I’m just so happy. I wanted this so bad. I dreamed this. Man, I dreamed this. And it’s surreal. Look at this. I feel amazing. I feel amazing.”

Donald was visibly emotional when the mic was put in front of him, he gave out tips on his strategic outcome tonight.

“One last play to be world champs. Give it everything you got, and I found a way to get to him,” he said. “We made a play and we won. That’s all that matters.”

With such a prestigious victory, Donald’s family also paid a visit to the field.

“I’m in the moment. I’m just going to enjoy right now with these guys,” Donald added. “My kids (are coming) on the field. This is a promise I made to my daughter when she was 5. We’re going to play in the confetti for a minute and live in the moment.”

Meanwhile, Rams general manager Les Snead — who selected Donald at No. 13 overall back in the 2014 NFL Draft — did not believe the rumors either.

“He’ll sleep on it and see, but I’m not buying it,” Snead said. “He’s a young kid. He’ll get bored and need something to do.”

Donald’s good future

This past season, Donald made 84 total tackles, 12.5 sacks, four passes defended, four forced fumbles, and fired his quarterback 20.5 times. Donald totaled 441 tackles (285 solos), 226 quarterback hits, 98 sacks, 23 forced fumbles, and 16 passes defended in 127 regular-season games (123 starts) since playing with the Rams.

In addition to that, Stafford who has been in the league since 2009 admitted that the game to the season is with ups and downs. In the end, Los Angeles showed their toughness and came through in the end.

After Super Bowl, Stafford and Donald have achieved exactly what they wanted in the NFL, now only time will tell their next move.


Super Bowl LVI

Super Bowl LVI is the upcoming championship game of the National Football League for the 2021 NFL season. (wikipedia)


Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League . It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. (wikipedia)