NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
Rams coach Sean McVay does not have Aaron Donald to lean on anymore. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
He’s out there, looming, hovering … watching?
One of the keys to the Rams 2024 season hangs over their heads like wispy smoke from a distant fire, present but absent, here but gone.
They are Super Bowl contenders without him. They could be Super Bowl champions with him.
They would love for him to eventually show up, but they would never really say that, never openly worry about it, and never do anything to distract from the skilled young players adjusting to his massive absence.
But they know it, their fans know it and, most importantly, he knows it.
Read more: Rams’ offense will be passable only if Kyren Williams and company stay in running
So together, as the Rams begin their season Sunday night in Detroit, everybody will be talking about their bright future yet quietly hoping to recapture a glorious chunk of their past.
Aaron Donald, everyone is waiting.
Donald retired in March after 10 seasons, but he is now just 33, still shaped like some Greek god, and still able to make an impact. In his final season he had eight sacks and 53 tackles and was named first-team All-Pro, and does that sound like somebody who’s ready to permanently retire?
What if, say, it’s December and Donald is bored and still in great shape because he always stays in great shape and the Rams are hot and both parties see the possibility of one last hurrah?
Does the best defensive lineman in history come out of retirement to help carry his team to its third Super Bowl appearance in seven years?
Read more: Rams’ talk is, Florida State rookies will need to be difference-makers on defense
Nobody will openly predict it. Donald himself says there’s no chance of it. But anybody who understands his unstoppable motor believes it absolutely could happen.
So far, the most emphatic public words from Donald have been the standard denial, issued on “The 25/10 Show” with DeSean Jackson and LeSean…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/plaschke-aaron-donald-rams-chase-100041572.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-09-04 10:00:41
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
