Meanwhile, Rams fans scoured clips of the festivities,
hunting for clues, signs, anything that qualified as insight.
Those praying for his return saw coach Sean McVay
atop a stage, goading the masses into a “run it back”
chant when it came time for Donald to address them.
“Why not?” the 30-year-old said in a way that seemed
committal but really wasn’t—not to him then, and not
when he discussed it almost a week after the parade.
At that moment, and in the days that followed, Donald
transformed from the NFL’s most feared defender into
the human embodiment of Disneyland. He seemed like
the happiest man on Earth. He drew from the crowd’s
energy, downing champagne, whiskey and cognac. He
never did put the shirt back on.
In this crucible of competing emotions—“juiced” by a
splendid present, ref lecting on a predictive past and not
yet ready to plot an undetermined future—Donald leaned
in close to team owner Stan Kroenke and told him that he
loved him. He shouted, “World champs!” over and overand apologized (unnecessarily) for his slurred speech.
That same week, the exultation continued unabated.
Donald went on The Late Late Show With James Corden;
he wore sunglasses, continued to imbibe and proved
he could skip rope and throw a football through a tire
(he did not fare as well in the limbo). He hosted family
and friends for dinner at Delilah, the Roaring ’20s–
themed hot spot in West Holly wood. He f lew to Miami
for Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s 45th birthday bash. And
he attended his first Lakers game, sitting courtside,
galvanizing the crowd and high-fiving LeBron James.
The superstars met brief ly afterward, and Donald is still
processing what James told him: “You’re the greatest
defensive player I’ve ever seen.”
For weeks, teammate Von Miller had told Donald,
“There’s nothing better than football heaven,” meaning
the glorious championship aftermath. As Donald basked
in actual sun and metaphorical glow, he finally under-
24 stood. After eight seasons, contract holdouts, a historic
“HONESTLY, YOU NEVER KNOW,” DONALD RESPONDED TO HARRISON,
ANSWERING FOR, HE BELIEVED, AN AUDIENCE OF ONE,“THIS COULD BE MY LAST YEAR.”
FR
OM(^) LE
FT
: (^) K
OH
JIR
O (^) K
INN
O;
JE
VO
NE
(^) MO
OR
E/I
CO
N (^) S
PO
RT
SW
IRE
/GE
TT
Y (^) IM
AG
ES