Aaron Donald Grew Up Idolizing Casey Hampton: ‘No One Did It Better’
After a decorated 10-year career that included eight first-team All-Pros, 10 Pro Bowls, a Super Bowl championship, three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced his retirement earlier this offseason. Donald felt like there was nothing else to accomplish. He was at peace with his career.
Donald recently appeared on The Pivot podcast to reflect on his Hall of Fame career and talk about adjusting to life without football.
When discussing his childhood in Pittsburgh, Donald said he came from a football family and was a Steelers fan growing up. Being a defensive tackle, one of the players that he kept a close eye on was five-time Pro Bowl nose tackle Casey Hampton.
“You got Big Casey Hampton, one of the biggest guys, super quick though, you know what I’m saying… he was so quick. Nobody did it better,” Donald told The Pivot. “Nobody, and I don’t understand why people don’t talk about this guy enough, but that’s different for me because I got to watch him a lot in person. He played his role. I seen him do some stuff where he would twist that stance a little bit, hit that quick swimmer, get in the backfield like that, and make a TFL (tackle for loss).”
Aaron Donald on Casey Hampton:
"You got Big Casey Hampton one of the biggest guys. Super quick though you know what I'm saying? Facemask on his face he was so quick. Nobody did it better. Nobody. And I don't understand why people don't talk about that guy enough.”#steelers… pic.twitter.com/ue0GPoera0
— Matthew Luciow (@matthewluciow92) July 16, 2024
Coming out of high school, coaches thought Donald was undersized, and he only had only three scholarship offers — Toledo, Akron and Pitt, which is where he played his college ball. Donald always carried a chip on his shoulder because people doubted him over his size.
“Just seeing that growing up coming out of high school, I’m only (6-foot-1) and you ain’t the biggest guy. ‘You 260, you think you can get to 300 pounds?’ Hell no, I can’t get to 300 pounds. I don’t want to be 300 pounds,” Donald said. “… I was good, I was the same player that I am now that I was in high school. I was making the same plays, I had two interceptions, I had touchdowns. I felt like I was good.”
Donald starred at Pitt, earning the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award in 2013. That success carried over to the NFL when he won NFL Rookie Defensive Player of the Year in 2014. Donald continued to rack up accolades, winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2017, 2018 and 2020. Donald, Lawrence Taylor, and J.J. Watt are the only three-time winners of the award in NFL history.
Donald’s next step is Canton. He’s a shoo-in as a first-ballot selection for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2029.
“I’m complete, I’m full. I think the passion to play the game is no longer there for me,” Donald said when he retired in March. “I will always love football, but to think about going through another camp and another 17 [game] season, I just don’t got the urge to want to push myself to do that no more. I’m just, I’m burnt out, if anything, the best way to say it is that I’m full, I’m complete. I’m satisfied with what I was able to do in 10 years, and I think it’s time for me to, at 32 years old, retire from football and jump into the next step in my career, my life, and now it’s time to move on.”
Donald finished his career 0-3 against the Steelers, with losses coming in 2015, 2019 and 2023. The 2019 game was the only time in his NFL career that he played in Pittsburgh.
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