58
E
RICA DONALD always asks her husband the same ques-
tion: Do you know how great you are?
He’ll laugh and mumble out something like, “No,
whatever,” and she’ll push back, because she believes
he should know what the rest of the football world long
ago deemed an unassailable truth. “No, but do you know
how great you are? How impactful you are? How talented
you are?” she’ll ask. When pressed, he might admit that,
in some ways, the dominant nature of his career has changed so much about
professional football, from rule alterations to blocking schemes and pass-rush
techniques to teams’ ongoing quests to add any defensive tackle prospect whose
skill set possesses even a slight resemblance to his.
In regard to her question, the overall answer is Yes, of course, no doubt. Donald
knows how great he is because everyone knows how great he is, because his
statistics scream how great he is, because legends opine about how great he
is. He won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014 and Defensive Player of the
Year in ’17, ’18 and ’20. He’s already the Rams’ modern-era sack leader, in only
eight seasons. But all of that alone does not fully capture Donald’s impact.
Pro Football Focus illuminated that more fully in early January, posting the2022 SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSAARON
DONALD
BY
GREG BISHOPTHE BRILLIANCE OF THE GAME’S BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER
WAS FORGED IN HIS YOUTH AND REACHED ITS PEAK
AS HE PURSUED HIS FIRST CHAMPIONSHIPAdapted from SI.com
February 11, 2022Photograph by John W. McDonough