The average football fan, yeah, they know Aaron Donald—kind of this unstoppable defensive force, right? But, like, not everyone remembers he was snagged at No. 13 by what was then the St. Louis Rams back in the 2014 Draft. Out of Pittsburgh, no less. And I’m betting even fewer people, maybe just Donald himself, can recall the whole drama back when he was just a high schooler with folks doubting him left and right.
So now here’s the wild part. Donald just might snag a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame. But — and it’s a big but — if it wasn’t for Pitt’s head coach at the time, Dave Wannstedt, and his D-line coach, Mike Gattuso, seeing something in him, well, who knows what we’d be talking about right now? Or maybe we wouldn’t be talking about him at all.
Donald’s got this quote, right, where he just lays it out: being overlooked for being this so-called “undersized” tackle, but then getting a shot at his hometown uni, Pittsburgh. A kind of cosmic twist of fate? Totally. Anyway, he was talking to the media about it, and one part stuck with me, “To be retired now and still receiving accolades from what I did in football, it’s truly a blessing.” It’s like he never really put away his cleats, right? Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it.
Back when he was chilling at Penn Hills High in Pittsburgh, the Panthers took a risk on him. I mean, seriously, his other big offers were like Toledo or Rutgers? That’s a whole ‘nother universe from where he is now. Looking back, though, you’d think every college football program shoulda fought for him. But, hey, kudos to the Panthers for seeing the diamond in the rough.
He rocked those four seasons at Pitt, but let’s talk about 2013. The guy was on fire — 59 tackles, 29 for a loss, 11 sacks. I mean, it was like he was everywhere on the field at once. Winning the Chuck Bednarik Award? Yeah, not too shabby. Oh, and the Bronko Nagurski Award too. Just a little icing on the cake.
And the rest, they say, is history. A legendary run with the Rams, bagging that Super Bowl LVI win. Let’s not forget those 10 Pro Bowl selections and being named NFL Defensive Player of the Year three times. Just makes you think, what if Pitt hadn’t taken that chance on the local boy? Wild how things play out, huh?
