Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald on Friday announced his retirement after 10 seasons in the NFL.
In doing so, Donald cemented himself in some very rare company.
The Rams star made the Pro Bowl in every season he was in the league, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer and Detroit Lions legend Barry Sanders as the only players in NFL history to play at least 10 seasons and get selected to the Pro Bowl in every year, per ESPN.
Just like Sanders, who ran for 2,053 yards in 1997, then followed it up with a 1,491-yard campaign in his final season in ’98, Donald retired on top. The Rams defender, who won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2014 and three Defensive Player of the Year awards in his career, tallied eight sacks and was selected as an All-Pro while appearing in all 16 games in 2023.
After securing the once-elusive Super Bowl ring with the Rams in 2022, there was little else for Donald, regarded as one of the great defenders in the sport’s history, to accomplish.
A surefire Hall of Famer, Donald enters retirement with 111 career sacks, tied for 40th on the unofficial list and ranking 28th on the official list, which tracks sacks since they became an official NFL statistic in 1982, per Pro Football Reference.
