The Seahawks’ Aaron Donald nightmare is finally over

Donald has announced his retirement after an incredible 10-year career.

How about this for a Friday news dump?

Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is hanging up the cleats after a legendarily dominant 10-year career that will see him undoubtedly end up as a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee. Donald made the announcement on his social media account, and for extra emphasis, today is not April 1 so it surely is not a prank.

Donald is one of the greatest players, let alone defensive players, in the history of the sport. He’s an athletic freak who has spent a decade terrorizing opposing quarterbacks and making high-level offensive linemen look like sentient turnstiles and traffic cones. The accolades are seemingly limitless: Defensive Rookie of the Year, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time All-Pro selection, literal perennial Pro Bowl choice in every season, and he got his Super Bowl ring (and probably could’ve won Super Bowl MVP) in the 2021 season.

We should note that Donald contemplated retirement after the Super Bowl, so clearly the 32-year-old has had this on his mind for quite some time.

As fans of the NFL, the game is lesser without Donald’s talents. As Seattle Seahawks fans, this is a great damn day. Including the playoffs, no team suffered more quarterback sacks at the hands of Donald than Seattle. He took down Russell Wilson (17) and Geno Smith (0.5) a combined 17.5 times in 19 games played. Roughly 15 percent of Donald’s 117 career regular + postseason sacks occurred versus the Seahawks. In his final game against Seattle, Donald walloped Geno Smith as he was throwing the ball and injured his right elbow, so even without recording a sack he still wreaked havoc.

See you in Canton, Aaron! We only wish you could’ve retired sooner.