How Sean McVay Attempted to Convince Aaron Donald Out of Retirement

Aaron Donald isn’t expected to come out of retirement. Still, count on Sean McVay to take strategically timed swings at the plate when the opportunities present themselves.

Take the October birthday party for the head coach’s son, for example, after the Rams’ Week 8 win over the red-hot Vikings. As McVay was trying to woo Donald back to the Rams, McVay’s 1-year-old son wasn’t offended – and that’s assuming the little guy even realized they were talking.

“It was his first birthday, and we were officially those parents that, you know, the 1-year-old, like he really knows,” McVay told Barstool’s Pardon My Take earlier this month. “It was really us throwing a party for ourselves acting like, you know, it's for our 1-year-old. But I think I caught a couple vodka sodas too many, and I definitely was trying to convince him.

“And he's like, ‘Hey, Bro, we've already been down this road. You know that's not happening.’”

Undaunted, McVay continued down that road.

“’We got some momentum going right now,’” McVay told Donald. “’What do you think? Yeah, just hop in.’ …Yeah. He's still good. He can still go. I mean, what a stud that guy was.”

Asked by the PMT hosts whether McVay would consider reverse psychology in future attempts to return Donald, calling him fat or accusing him of losing his toughness or lacking an edge, the coach didn’t think that was such a good idea.

“I think he would know that's just so not true that he wouldn't even respond. That'd be like spitballs on a battleship to him.”

Considered by many the most dominant defensive lineman in NFL history, Donald retired last March after 10 years with the Rams, at age 32 – two years after the age at which Puka Nacua recently said he would retire.

The Rams’ first-round selection in the 2014 draft, Donald made 10 Pro Bowls and earned eight first-team All-Pro selections. In his first season, he garnered NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, then captured three Defensive Player of the Year awards before retiring.

The Los Angeles defensive front played remarkably well during Donald’s first year in retirement. Jared Verse followed in Donald’s footsteps as a Rams first-round draft choice who went on to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. And the mentorship Donald provided before he retired certainly helped the development of budding stars Kobie Turner and Byron Young.

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