Rams legend Aaron Donald will have No. 97 jersey | College News
Mention Aaron Donald and practically everybody thinks Rams, the crew he spent his total 10-year NFL profession with and led to a Super Bowl championship in 2022. Donald was a three-time NFL defensive participant of the 12 months, nine-time All-Pro and is regarded as one of the best defensive tackles of all time.
But before Los Angeles there was Pittsburgh, where Donald grew up and where he went to school. And it’s the University of Pittsburgh where Donald turned an unstoppable power from 2010 to 2013, setting an NCAA document with tackles for loss by an inside lineman before the Rams plucked him as their first-round draft decide.
So it’s Pitt that will retire Donald’s No. 97 on Nov. 15 during a home sport against (*97*) Dame, Panthers athletic director Allen Greene announced Monday. Donald also will be enshrined in the Pitt Hall of Fame this weekend, becoming a member of other iconic alumni names Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, Mike Ditka and Larry Fitzgerald.
“Born and raised in Pittsburgh, I’m grateful to the University of Pittsburgh for taking a chance on me when so many others wouldn’t,” Donald said in a assertion. “I accomplished more in my career than I ever dreamed of, and for that I’m truly blessed.
“To soon see my number hanging alongside other Pitt greats is an honor beyond measure. I will always love this University. Hail to Pitt!”
Donald starred at Penn Hills High, east of Pittsburgh. As a Pitt senior in 2013, Donald led the nation with 28.5 tackles for loss and added 11 sacks and 4 pressured fumbles. He was a unanimous first-team All-American and gained every award that exists for a lineman: the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Outland Trophy and Rotary Lombardi Award.
“Aaron Donald is a proud Pittsburgher who embodies the very best of what it means to be a Pitt Panther,” Greene said. “His humility, determination, and work ethic reflect the character of this community. Retiring his jersey honors not only an extraordinary athlete, but a leader whose relentless pursuit of excellence has defined his legacy.”
The first ground of Pitt’s Duratz Athletic Complex was renamed the Aaron Donald Football Performance Center in 2019, after Donald made a seven-figure reward to this system. He also set a high bar for exercises, as Rams teammate Jared Verse realized when he joined Donald for a punishing collection of full-body circuit training in July — months after Donald retired.
“His wife came in laughing at me — I told her to call the police,” Verse joked, including, “I tried to lie and say my mom was at my house and I had to go let her in. He told me to give my keys to his management or assistant and that they would go let my mom in. So I wasn’t leaving.
“Finished the workout. I’m dead tired, I’m exhausted. I had a plan to go jump in the sauna afterwards, didn’t happen. I had plans to watch film, didn’t happen. Went home and I didn’t work out for another day and a half because I couldn’t move my body.”
Donald also based the AD99 Solutions Foundation, which supplies Pittsburgh’s underprivileged youth access to schooling, nutrition and neighborhood involvement.
Accolades for his Rams profession will be forthcoming. Donald will be eligible for the NFL Hall of Fame in 2029 and is taken into account a lock for first-ballot induction. The Rams have retired eight gamers’ jersey numbers and Donald’s No. 99 probably will be the ninth.
“I had the privilege — and sometimes the misfortune — of facing Aaron 14 times in his first seven years, and every snap was a reminder of his complete domination,” said Fitzgerald, an NFL Hall of Famer who spent 17 years with the Arizona Cardinals. “As a Pitt man, I was filled with pride watching him redefine what it meant to play defense, but as an [NFL] opponent, I knew he was carving his name into history at our expense.
“He wasn’t just disruptive. He was destructive, bending entire offenses to his will and still making plays no one else could make. Retiring his number is the perfect tribute because there will never be another Aaron Donald, and there will never again be another 97 at Pitt.”
Uniform numbers retired by the Rams
- #7: Bob Waterfield
- #28: Marshall Faulk
- #29: Eric Dickerson
- #74: Merlin Olsen
- #75: Deacon Jones
- #78: Jackie Slater
- #80: Isaac Bruce
- #85: Jack Youngblood
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