Aaron Donald is one of the greatest defensive players to ever play the game. His 10-year career with the Los Angeles Rams was highlighted by their 2021 Super Bowl run. Donald is also one of the most decorated defensive lineman in NFL history.
However, now we know why he had to hang up his cleats early.
“He Really Said That?” Aaron Donald Discloses Why He Retired From The Rams Early (Report)
Aaron Donald made the decision to retire during his prime surprisingly easily:
Many fans were stunned when Aaron Donald retired after his age-32 season last year. The future Hall of Famer recorded eight sacks and earned Pro Bowl and First-team All-Pro nods in his final season, showing zero signs of slowing down.
The popular @_MLFootball X/Twitter account posted a one-year-old video of Donald explaining his retirement decision. It’s not news, but it still gives fans clarity behind his decision to walk away at the top of his game.
Donald cited burnout and the lack of passion to continue playing, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk:
“Ten years, 10 Pro Bowls, eight All-Pros, three defensive players of the year, rookie of the year, two NFC Championships, three NFC West championships, went to two Super Bowls, won one, lost one. I’m complete. I’m full. I think the passion to play the game is no longer there for me.
I will always love football, but to think about going through another camp and another 17 season, I just don’t got the urge to want to push myself to do that no more. I’m just, I’m burned out.
The best way to say that is I’m full, I’m complete, I’m satisfied with what I was able to do in 10 years, and I think it’s time for me, at 32 years old, to retire from football and jump into the next step of my career and life and it’s time to move on.”
Here is the video:
NEWS: Legendary #Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald reveals why he retired from the #NFL at such a young age.pic.twitter.com/bsLjJ6B07c
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) August 23, 2025
The 34-year-old Aaron Donald teased a return to football on social media earlier this month when someone posted a photo of disgruntled Dallas Cowboys All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons in a Rams jersey.
Clearly, Donald was just having fun and not serious about coming out of retirement.
Here is a look at Donald’s career stats:
| Def Interceptions | Fumbles | Tackles | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Age | Team | Lg | Pos | G | GS | Int | Yds | IntTD | Lng | PD | FF | Fmb | FR | Yds | FRTD | Sk | Comb | Solo | Ast | TFL | QBHits | Sfty | AV | Awards |
| 2014 | 23 | STL | NFL | LDT | 16 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.0 | 48 | 38 | 10 | 18 | 13 | 0 | 11 | PB,AP DRoY-1 |
| 2015 | 24 | STL | NFL | LDT | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 0 | 11.0 | 69 | 44 | 25 | 22 | 37 | 0 | 18 | PB,AP-1,AP DPoY-2 |
| 2016 | 25 | LAR | NFL | LDT | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 47 | 36 | 11 | 17 | 31 | 0 | 15 | PB,AP-1,AP DPoY-4 |
| 2017 | 26 | LAR | NFL | RDE | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 15 | 27 | 0 | 15 | PB,AP-1,AP DPoY-1 |
| 2018 | 27 | LAR | NFL | RDT | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20.5 | 59 | 41 | 18 | 25 | 41 | 0 | 16 | PB,AP-1,AP DPoY-1 |
| 2019 | 28 | LAR | NFL | RDE | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12.5 | 48 | 29 | 19 | 20 | 24 | 1 | 14 | PB,AP-1,AP DPoY-5 |
| 2020 | 29 | LAR | NFL | DT | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13.5 | 45 | 27 | 18 | 14 | 28 | 0 | 23 | PB,AP-1,AP DPoY-1 |
| 2021 | 30 | LAR | NFL | LDT | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.5 | 84 | 38 | 46 | 19 | 25 | 0 | 17 | PB,AP-1,AP DPoY-3 |
| 2022 | 31 | LAR | NFL | DT | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 49 | 27 | 22 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 8 | PB |
| 2023 | 32 | LAR | NFL | DT | 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 53 | 28 | 25 | 16 | 23 | 0 | 15 | PB,AP-1,AP CPoY-9 |
| 10 Yrs | 154 | 150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 24 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 0 | 111.0 | 543 | 340 | 203 | 176 | 260 | 1 | 152 | |||||
| 17 Game Avg | 17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 12.3 | 60 | 38 | 22 | 19 | 29 | 0 | 17 | |||||
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