While the Los Angeles Rams have an important matchup in Week 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night at SoFi Stadium, fans in attendance have something just as exciting to look forward to at halftime.
On Sunday, the Rams will celebrate the legacy of one of the greatest defensive linemen in NFL history – Aaron Donald.
Ahead of the event, Rams head coach Sean McVay shared his thoughts about Donald and what No. 99 meant to him during their seven seasons together in Los Angeles from 2017-23.
“What’s really special about Aaron is the amount of work and time that he put in and when you can really hear him say, ‘I’m full. I’m complete,’ and how content he is, whether that be going back to what he did at college, getting his number retired at Pitt was pretty special,” McVay said on Monday. “Then to be able to get recognized I was so fortunate to be with him for the amount of time that I was, but what a unique human, what an amazing father, husband and son. He’s just all about the right stuff. I think the best example of leadership is seen, not said. He knew when to say the right things, but he just modeled the way every single day. It’s really easy to be able to show what it looks like when you can just reference stories of somebody that a lot of our guys have played with that epitomized those things, stayed humble, was always willing to be coached, demanded to be coached, was a great man in terms of his values and character that he had. I love that guy and what he meant to me. Like I’ve said, the most important thing was he let me into his life and you got some insight into knowing what really mattered to him, but he sure was a hell of a football player too. I’m damn grateful and there are a lot of blessings that have come my way because I was fortunate enough to be able to coach him.”
McVay was also asked about Donald’s leadership and its impact on the team’s culture, and he used that as an opportunity to compare him to a trio of Hall of Famers.
“I remember my grandpa saying this when I used to talk to him about why they thought they were able to sustain such a level of success in San Francisco for the years he was there,” McVay said. “When your best players are the ones that model the way, those become the standards and everybody falls in line and nobody’s above it. There’s extreme ownership, there’s an accountability, there’s a work ethic, there’s an enjoyment for celebrating other’s successes. There’s the right mindset and then there’s the right energy that you bring every single day. When he did that, it’s like well shoot, if Aaron’s doing that, then I better fall in line. It’s no different than the way it was for Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and I think that was what we set out to do. I think that’s what’s been right in a lot of the things that have gone on here. Aaron is one of the central figures to that for the last handful of years.”
Donald still has a few years before he can be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but there’s no doubt that he’ll be there one day.
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This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Sean McVay has endless praise for Aaron Donald ahead of celebration
