46
man,” Smith told him, “this dude is the truth.”
Eight years later, as rumors swirled that Donald was
considering retirement, teammates would be calling him
the same thing—“the truth”—from up on a podium as
he relaxed in the back of a golf cart nearby with two of
his children by his side, a ring being sized for his mas-
sive left hand. But before that could happen he would
need a push from a teammate, one who joined the ride
as it was closing in on its destination.I
N 2018, VON MILLER went out one day to enjoy
a nightclub in Los Angeles. As he scanned the
room, he spied a familiar face, Kliff Kingsbury,
who was then the coach at Texas Tech and who,
like Miller, spent time at Texas A&M. Then Miller noticed
another coach with Kingsbury: McVay. Shots were had,
along with quite a night. At one point, Miller turned
to McVay and said something he never expected would
come true. “Come get me.”“There’s a loneliness to leadership,” his father says.
McVay tried to ignore his growing internal debate
when the 2021 season started, as the Rams rocketed to
a 7–1 start. The coach’s best friend, Dante DiSabato, saw
a calmer version of his buddy on the sideline—calmer,
relative to him. But his players still laugh about “anger
sharks” in relation to McVay’s moods, meaning, Kupp
says, that when the anger sharks start swimming, McVay
is mad. “You can see he’s not O.K. with not having an
answer for us,” Kupp says. “I appreciate that about him.”
McVay wanted to be “completely present in the
moment,” which he said was exactly how his team
reacted when their season almost fell apart. The Rams
lost three times in a winless November, as Stafford threw
interceptions and wide receiver Robert Woods, one of
the team’s best players and most important leaders,
suffered a torn ACL.
“Sometimes, passions can run dry,” McVay says. “But
if you have real purpose, that’s the center of your drive.
That’s what helped this team.”
Well, that and the best defensive player in pro football.W
HEN HE WAS 22, Aaron Donald began
preparing for the NFL draft, engaging
in daily workouts with Chuck Smith,
his private coach,
in Arizona. Smith introduced
Donald to the cross-chop, now
his signature move. Donald’s
agents wondered whether Smith
could help him slide into the first
round. Smith laughed, before tell-
ing them there “wasn’t a number
high enough” for where Donald
should go.
One day, after they climbed a
fence to fit in yet another session,
Smith told Donald what he truly
felt. “Man, you’re gonna end up
being the greatest pass rusher of
all time,” he said. “You have the
potential.... Do you realize that?”
Donald smiled sheepishly, Smith
remembers. He knew. “I plan to
be,” Donald responded. “I’ve been
this size my whole life, and I’ve
been whooping everybody from
the time I put on pads.”
Smith started calling any exec-
utive he had contact information
for. He left one voicemail for the
Rams’ GM, Les Snead. “Look,2022 SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSTIGER TAMERS
Jones (right) was part of the Rams’
team effort to hector Burrow and contain
the Cincinnati ground game.SUPER BOWL LVIJO
HN(^) W
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