At age 31, Aaron Donald has received sufficient accolades to be talked about among the many professional soccer greats. Donald, a defensive sort out for the Los Angeles Rams, has been the N.F.L. defensive participant of the 12 months thrice — tied for essentially the most with Lawrence Taylor and J.J. Watt. Donald has been named to the Professional Bowl in every of his eight N.F.L. seasons up to now. And final season, he racked up two sacks because the Rams received the Tremendous Bowl, beating the Cincinnati Bengals.
On Sunday, he added to his Corridor of Fame résumé when he bought round Arizona Cardinals offensive guard Will Hernandez and tripped Kyler Murray because the quarterback was escaping the pocket, gathering his 100th career regular-season sack.
It locations Donald among the many sport’s elite, and never simply due to the amount. Donald is certainly one of simply three inside defensive tackles to succeed in 100 sacks since 1960, in response to place listings by Professional Soccer Reference, together with the Corridor of Fame inductees Alan Web page and Alex Karras. Having performed on the defensive position’s inside his entire profession, Donald faces double groups and different unique protections relatively than the one-on-one matchups that edge rushers (assume exterior linebackers and defensive ends) see on the way in which to reaching the quarterback.
However even from the within, Donald has racked up sacks at an uncanny tempo. Since he entered the league in 2014, no participant has had extra sacks. He’s certainly one of 40 gamers to have reached 100 for the reason that N.F.L. started formally recording sacks within the 1982 season, and solely six different energetic gamers — Von Miller, Chandler Jones, Cameron Jordan, Justin Houston, J.J. Watt and Robert Quinn — have hit that milestone.
By reaching 100 sacks in his one hundred and thirtieth regular-season sport, Donald was the tenth quickest of his friends, in response to Elias Sports activities Bureau.
“Any time you accomplish something, it’s a terrific honor,” Donald mentioned this season. “However clearly I’m simply out right here enjoying — not fascinated about it, simply enjoying a sport.”
How lengthy he retains enjoying will determine simply the place Donald falls on the listing of profession sack leaders. He flirted with retirement after the Rams received the Tremendous Bowl in February, however the staff restructured the ultimate three years of his contract, which incorporates $95 million assured, making him the highest-paid nonquarterback in N.F.L. historical past.
That transfer means Donald’s tenure of terrorizing quarterbacks might finish after the 2024 season; at his present tempo, he might attain 137 sacks by the tip of that contract. If he have been to maintain enjoying into his late 30s and even early 40s — and was capable of sustain his spectacular price of 0.77 sacks per sport — he might problem the profession document, held by the Corridor of Famer Bruce Smith, who secured 200 sacks in 19 seasons.
“Aaron might be the best soccer participant that most likely most of us have been round,” mentioned Raheem Morris, the Rams’ defensive coordinator. “You’re carrying his gold jacket proper now, and we’re simply fortunate sufficient to have the ability to watch it.”