Rams’ Aaron Donald Praised as a Hall of Famer by NFL Fans, Players After Retirement

NFL players, analysts and reporters showed their love and appreciation for legendary Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald on Friday after he announced his retirement.

Donald, who was a 10-time Pro Bowler, eight-time First Team All-Pro, three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and one-time Super Bowl champion over 10 seasons, announced his NFL retirement Friday at the age of 32:

Many of his peers who played both with and against him took to X in order to praise him as one of the best to ever play his position:

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, who spent years as Donald’s adversary in the NFC West, had a hilarious reaction to Donald’s retirement as well:

Donald even garnered praise from stars elsewhere in the sports world, including Phoenix Suns forward and legendary NBA player Kevin Durant:

All signs point toward Donald being a first-ballot Hall of Famer when the time comes, and much of the reaction on X seemed to support that sentiment:

The then-St. Louis Rams took Donald with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft out of the University of Pittsburgh, and he went on to far exceed even the greatest expectations the team had for him.

In 154 career regular-season games, Donald racked up 543 tackles, 111 sacks, 176 tackles for loss and 24 forced fumbles.

He is third in NFL history in tackles for loss, and his 111 sacks are 28th in league history on the official sacks list. Among those who played primarily defensive tackle, only Minnesota Vikings legend John Randle has more career sacks than Donald.

Donald was also a dominant force in the playoffs, recording 34 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and six sacks in 11 career postseason games.

That included 3.5 sacks in four games during the 2021 playoffs, which concluded with L.A. beating the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl.

Donald’s retirement is a huge loss for both the Rams and the NFL as a whole, but he left an indelible mark on the sport and will always be remembered as one of the all-time greats.