Aaron Donald the 8x All Pro & Super Bowl Champ on first year without NFL Training Camp, talks illustrious career but opens up on the struggles masked by the highs, Sean McVay's impact, Super Bowl loss, bond w/ his wife & his next chapter

"I am complete. It was a storybook ending." Being able to walk away from any career on own terms is something we all want when we are ready for that next chapter but to say farewell to football, a game you love and dedicated your life to, feeling satisfied, complete and accomplished is truly more than one could ever dream of and after 8 Pro Bowls in 10 seasons, a Super Bowl trophy, and a decade of memories, future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald reflects on how his career was more than just football... Ryan, Channing and Fred sit down with recently-retired Aaron Donald, one of the best to ever put the pads on, to go through his football journey, from the 5yr old kid who just wanted to compete to becoming the respected man who led his team to two Super Bowls while having a family-first mentality of being a father and husband... Aaron opens up about much more than we saw on the outside and his process that guided him to stepping away from the game after 10 seasons. From the outside, Aaron Donald's career resembles as close to perfection as can be, but AD shares with the guys that there were a lot of tough moments for him mentally, personally and physically that he endured while accepting the role as not just the face of a franchise but the face of the NFL. Experiencing the lows of LA's Super Bowl 53 loss to the highs of the team's Super Bowl 56 victory, Aaron talks about the importance of him reaching that key team accomplishment in the game which surpassed all of his individual accolades he achieved. Going in-depth about key relationships from Coach Sean McVay, to teammates, to his parents to the bond he has with his wife, Aaron touches on the struggles and emotional rollercoaster during certain moments and reflects on the memories his illustrious career provided. Sharing inside locker room stories and never-told before stories, Aaron opens up on every aspect of who he is and strived to be as the player, the son, the father, the husband and the teammate. On the field, the world saw one of the fiercest football players to ever play the game, but during this vulnerable conversation, the guys peel back the layers of a man who wore his heart on his sleeve and how he became synonymous with hard work and dedication to his craft, ultimately retiring as one of the best defensive players in the history of the NFL. Coming out of high school, coaches thought AD was undersized, and he only had only 3 scholarship offers for football but Aaron made the most of his opportunities and played with a chip on his shoulder proving the position is about strength, skill and technique not just size. Aaron shares how he developed his alpha mentality at a young age and relied on his family, father and brothers to help instill character, work ethic and a survivor mentality which motivated his mindset from early days as a Pitt Panther through his last game as a Los Angeles Ram. Walking away from what you love is never easy, but Aaron has no regrets and certainly no unfinished business as for him it was never about playing for a paycheck, it was always about the passion for the process and yearning to be the best. Entering his first summer without training camp, AD doesn't feel the void of football as he feels his life is complete in so many areas that his next chapter might be his best yet. It's about family now, as he credits his wife and kids for being a big part of his career and expresses ultimate gratitude to his wife Erica for always having his back and putting his well-being first all these years which leads to a deeper conversation about mental health, and not being afraid to open up and share when times get dark. New episodes drop on Tuesdays at 12 p.m. ET and Fridays at 3:30 p.m ET on YouTube, with audio available on all streaming platforms including Apple, Spotify and Amazon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:09Speaker 01

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• 0:30Channing Crowder?

  I be thinking I have money till I be around my with money, money. Bro, he turned down 30. He left 30 on the table. I'm good. You know what, guys? And I ain't playing the first game.

• 0:42Speaker 03

  What up, my boy?

• 0:43Channing Crowder?

  Yes, sir. Appreciate you, baby. Finest.

• 0:46Fred Taylor?

  Hey, he don't walk like he ready to retire.

• 0:48Speaker 03

  He shouldn't retire. No more field work, man. Just lifting weights and maybe some cardio or something, but that's it. But I like to look good. That's all that is.

• 0:57Channing Crowder?

  You gotta let it go sooner or later.

• 0:59Speaker 03

  Hell, no.

• 0:59Channing Crowder?

  Man, get that gut, man. Be a dad.

• 1:01Fred Taylor?

  This is one guy you don't listen. He hasn't worked out since he retired.

• 1:04Speaker 03

  You know, I think I went through a chubby stage when I was a kid. So I went through the kid at the pool that wanted to swim with his T-shirt on. So I don't know.

• 1:10Fred Taylor?

  I don't want to be that kid no more. You got me messed up.

• 1:13Channing Crowder?

  And he got abs and say, oh, OK, this was this little life.

• 1:16Fred Taylor?

  I got abs. Could keep my shirt on.

• 1:19Channing Crowder?

  I'm a T-shirt dad.

• 1:22Speaker 05

  Hold up. Limitless, niggas stomach kinda pinning it. I fought the head to witness it. Got my people feeling militant. Way I'm feeling got me up. On the mission got me up. Lower me, I got the key. On the vision I can trust, trust. Limitless, niggas stomach kinda pinning it. I fought the head to witness it. Got my people feeling militant. Way I'm feeling got me up. On the mission got me up. Lower me, I got the key. On the vision I can trust, trust. Limitless, niggas stomach kinda pinning it. I fought the head to witness it. Got my people feeling militant. Way I'm feeling got me up.

• 1:57Ryan Clark?

  Well, man, Aaron Donald, welcome to The Pivot. This is Freddie T. Yes, sir. Channing Crowder, Ryan Clark. This is The Pivot, a part of Fanatics. I mean, illustrious decade.

• 2:09Ryan Clark?

  In the league, man, Defensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, three times, 10-time Pro Bowler, eight-time All-Pro. I mean, the accolades speak for themselves. I think the one you're most proud of, though, is Super Bowl champion.

• 2:22Speaker 03

  Yes. Couldn't wait to get that, experience that, because, you know, through the whole, my whole career, I heard so many stories about the confetti and the whole experience and seeing it on TV when the Steelers did it. It's like, you can't put into words until you, in that moment, and get to experience it. Like, my wife kept asking me the night before the game, "You gonna cry if y'all win?" Man, I ain't gonna cry.

• 2:46Speaker 03

  Look at it. Look at it. It's just a different experience, because all that hard work you put in, to see it pay off, that's the ultimate goal right there. So, it was like, I accomplished everything I wanted to do. That's the only thing I was chasing. I was just like, you know what I'm saying? You just can breathe now. So, it just, it felt good. It felt real good.

• 3:02Ryan Clark?

  You had the, you had the letter written after that, after the Super Bowl.

• 3:06Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 3:06Ryan Clark?

  You, you were ready to retire. You had a conversation.

• 3:09Speaker 03

  How you know that?

• 3:10Ryan Clark?

  You had a conversation, you had a conversation with Sean that brought you back for two more years. You worked it out financially. You know, you said that's what it was about. You accomplished so much, and you finally got that Super Bowl. What was it about that conversation or that time that made you feel like you had a little bit more to give?

• 3:34Speaker 03

  When I first came to the league, I was gonna do eight years, and I was gonna be done. I just happened to win a Super Bowl my eighth year, so I just, I just was a guy that never wanted to play forever. I was satisfied. I accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish and more. I was like, so I'm, I'm complete. And I talked to Sean, he said some things, and me said some good things. We had like, probably like a two-hour conversation. Like, I was in Pittsburgh, it was probably late at night, 12 o'clock. It had to be like 12 in the morning. But we talking all night. He just, he's saying some things that's making sense, so I'm like... If it makes sense from a financial standpoint, then I'd do it. You know, and we got the business that handled and I was like, I made a two-year commitment to try to experience that again because it was kind of hard to walk away after experiencing something like that. It's like, it's hard to just walk away from that because it's like, it's an addictive feeling, you know?

• 4:18Speaker 03

  You want to experience that again, you want to experience all that again, all the perks that come with it after winning the Super Bowl. It's a lot that come with it, man. If you, you know.

• 4:26Ryan Clark?

  They don't know.

• 4:27Speaker 03

  I wish, I wish everybody got the opportunity to experience that because it's just a lot that come with winning the Super Bowl and I was like, I just wanted to try to win that again, experience that again, so.

• 4:37Channing Crowder?

  You talked about a number of times, you bring up Sap and Randall and them boys, like, bro, why take that from the game? Bro, you was one of the most dominant defensive players ever and that D tackle, that shit hard because them are the only two names I can bring up. I don't know if you got anymore. You know what I'm saying?

• 4:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, I feel you.

• 4:54Channing Crowder?

  Why take that from, even now, bro, even seeing you and looking at you and see how it's shaped, bro, you could still be a Pro Bowler next year. Why take it from the game?

• 5:01Speaker 03

  I'm complete, man, and for me, I don't have a passion to play football no more. So it's like, I'm a guy that train all year round. I'm not a guy to take, I might take a week off after the season's over and I'm in a weight room, I'm training again, so it's like, it's non-stop work for me. It's a lot, a lot that go into it that the world don't get to see, a lot of people don't see and it's like, you get exhausted after a while. They just, I don't got the urge to do that all year round no more. I don't got the urge to go out there and do camp. I don't got the urge to go through 17 games again. I just don't got the urge to play football and it's a disservice to me to just go out there for a check, this amount of money on the table, I can just get that and be done and just get by. That's not the way I'm built, that's not the way I am and I can't disrespect the game because it did so much good for me, like, I can't disrespect the football gods like that.

• 5:46Speaker 03

  So I just, you know, I'm at a point where I accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish anymore, was blessed to, you know, create the financial stability that I did to be able to create my own, so it's just nothing left for me to, you know, on the table that I want to do.

• 6:01Channing Crowder?

  If you didn't have your amazing wife, which I love your, y'all's interview, I told you before the show, y'all's interview she did when you retired and your kids. Would you still play if you didn't have that?

• 6:11Speaker 03

  I can't even answer that because I got that.

• 6:13Channing Crowder?

  You know what I'm saying? I heard you talk about it like.

• 6:15Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's different.

• 6:16Channing Crowder?

  Because now you want to be dad, now you want to be a husband.

• 6:18Speaker 03

  Yeah, but it's because I got, you know, I got 11 year old daughter, I got an eight year old son, I got a two year old, I got a 10 month old. So, you know, my, now my eight year old want to play football, you know, I want to be a part of that. I want my daughter want to do softball, I want to be a part of that. So that, that tied to it too, you know, as far as wanting to be with my kids more experienced stuff, you know, instead of missing things and you got camp and it's a lot that go into it. But, you know, for me, it's just, I'm, I'm, I'm like, I'm complete.

• 6:43Channing Crowder?

  Lil man two?

• 6:44Speaker 03

  Yeah, he's only two. Everybody think he's four or five.

• 6:46Channing Crowder?

  Ooh.

• 6:47Speaker 03

  He's only two.

• 6:49Channing Crowder?

  We need stocking him right now. Hey.

• 6:55Fred Taylor?

  He just put me through a workout.

• 6:56Channing Crowder?

  Hey, what can we put on it? Lil man gonna be a monster. I got, I got, I got that medal American Express.

• 7:05Fred Taylor?

  He just put me through a workout, but no, you know what though? Just, just being on this side, having been on this side since 2011 for myself and then these guys, Channing probably retired around the same time, RC a couple of years later. It's rare to see guys do what you've done to have that mindset. Like guys really fight the notion of, of not being able to play no more. And they fight to play longer and they fight against retirement. Are you as excited for this aspect or this portion of it?

• 7:36Speaker 03

  I'm super excited for the next chapter because you know, got a lot going on, obviously made some good investments. My ready brand sports drink made some that's doing great. Got my development company that we got our first project. We should be approved in July. Donald Development Group, first project in Pittsburgh, 38 units, community center. So we got some good opportunities that's coming that, you know, going to come to fruition real soon. So got a lot of things going on that I'm super excited about, man. And like, I felt like to answer your question, a lot of people fight the decision trying to last longer than what they should. But I'm a guy that accomplished, like I had big dreams, but I surpassed anything that I thought I was even going from just putting a body at work. And so it's like, ah, you check that off from an individual standpoint. From a defensive player, I accomplished everything you can do as an individual.

• 8:21Speaker 03

  From team success, I accomplished everything you can from team success, from the lowest to the highest.

• 8:25Fred Taylor?

  Right.

• 8:26Speaker 03

  So it's like, and on top of that, financially, was able to create what I created from playing this game and doing it the right way. So it's like, I don't have no second guessing. Ain't no like, you know, it's not, I don't have to feel like I gotta exhaust my body more to try to do this or do this because I did it already. And my 10 years that I was blessed to play this game and have the career I had in a short amount of time, because it fly by so fast. You know, I remember coming in to St. Louis as a rookie, you know, and then it's now 10 years. 10 years, and I'm like, God, last year was the year, that's the first year I feel old because all the young guys, all the young players, they playing music. I'm like, what is they playing? I feel like, I'm complaining about the music they playing and stuff. I feel like, oh, I'm like, yeah, this is definitely gonna be my last year.

• 9:09Speaker 03

  But you know what I'm saying? It's just when you got things set up and you do it the right way and get yourself set up and you put the body at work and you put yourself in a position that, for you to be satisfied, for you to be comfortable and for you to have the right mindset to walk away from the game and not second guess it, you know? It's really a good feeling and I'm like, I'm super excited about the next chapter.

• 9:27Fred Taylor?

  When you're in the building, I know the first thing we all probably did was, you know, we wake up to that alarm clock hit and say, damn, gotta get to this building. Like, what are your days? Like, what do you wake up, the first thing you do when you wake up nowadays?

• 9:41Speaker 03

  Nowadays? Wake up with the kids, hang with the kids for a minute, do what I need to do, do my meetings, anything I need to do meeting wise, Zoom calls. Might do some workouts because, you know, I can work out two, three times now. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm just, it's got time. So just working out, doing my meeting calls, staying busy, being a family man pretty much, so.

• 9:59Ryan Clark?

  From the outside, Aaron Donald's career looks like one high after the other. One individual accomplishment after the other that led to the biggest team accomplishment. But before you got there, you know, because I heard you mention how great the confetti was. You were supposed to bring your daughter some confetti from the first Super Bowl you were in. And you lost that and your mom says, like, you've always been about family and your daughter asks, K-pop, hey dad? Where's my confetti? Weren't you supposed to bring me some? What was that feeling like for you? Because you were a man that didn't fail a lot when it came to football.

• 10:38Speaker 03

  That broke my heart, I ain't gonna lie. Even after that, losing that Super Bowl was like, I ain't gonna lie, I was down for like two months. I hated Tom Brady for like three years after that. Like, I ain't gonna lie, I was mad. Like, then, now I'm telling my daughter, like, we gonna win this game. It was one of, you know, 18, 19 years, we was on fire. I'm like, ain't nobody, can't nobody stop us? I'm like, we gonna handle business, we gonna win this. I told, like, daddy gonna bring you on the field, we gonna play in this confetti. She said, I can't wait daddy. I remember walking off the field, seeing my daughter crying. I'm like, I just like, I feel like I let her down. You know, I made a promise before I even did what I need to do on the football field. So I always told myself, if I ever, once I get back to a Super Bowl, if I ever get the opportunity to get back at a Super Bowl, I'm gonna do everything in my power to do more to help make sure that we win this game.

• 11:21Speaker 03

  Everything played out with like a storybook type ending. So it was tough, but you know, found the way to get it done and get the experience it.

• 11:28Ryan Clark?

  We all talk about the overall team accomplishment. And you know, you're from Pittsburgh, you were right next to our building. There's no building in the world that's more about team accomplishments than that one. But there's also a difference when you play in the Super Bowl and you made something happen, or you were a part of it. The way that game ended, it was, if this man is considered so widely by many, the greatest to ever play the position, one of the greatest to ever play the game at any position, he's supposed to put his imprint on this game. Was the ending of that game sweeter because it came down to Aaron Donald?

• 12:09Speaker 03

  It was, like I said, it was a storybook type ending. I feel like somebody wrote that. You know, the NFL must have scripted that one. But it was, it just played out like however it was supposed to play out. I feel like winning the Super Bowl would be good, but being a guy that made plays, key plays to help us to win the game is different. It's like, everything that come with it is different. The experience is different, the feeling is different. It's just like... I don't know, I, I, I, people ask me this question, it's hard to explain it because there's so many emotions that just keep hitting me and you go back to that mode, you know, everything that was going on.

• 12:39Channing Crowder?

  Did you play in this?

• 12:40Speaker 03

  No, it's emotions, just raw emotions. Everything I do is off raw emotions. I ain't the guy that like, I get this, I make this play, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. My emotions just take over and whatever happened out there, it happens, man.

• 12:52Speaker 03

  The way everything played out that game, man. It was a nerve wracking game, but I knew we was gonna find a way to win it, man, because, you know, we, we had a lot of good veteran guys that came and helped us, like Vaughn, you had Odell, obviously Cooper Cup, Matthew Stafford, Big Whit. You know, so to get this experience out with them guys, man, and, you know, find a way to get that done, it was definitely special.

• 13:11Channing Crowder?

  Right, the, the, I want to go back to the loss though. Failing, because you don't fail much. You ain't failing college, you balled out All-American, first round pick, go out, start balling off bat, and then like, was that the first time you really felt like you failed?

• 13:28Speaker 03

  Nah, I had times I felt like that, but on that type of a level, on that, on that stage, yes. You know what I'm saying? Because I felt like I had opportunities to make plays that I didn't. Getting, preparing for a Super Bowl, there's a lot that come with it, definitely then, a lot of media, you just, I just want to play football. I don't want to do all the, you want to go stage with the team and you gotta do all this media. I'm like, come on. It was, it was just too much, so you, you overwhelmed, so, you know, you wasn't prepared for that. You know, you didn't know, you don't know what to expect when it comes to a Super Bowl as far as, not the football part, off the, off the field stuff, and I just didn't do it, get it done, man. I let my team down to be a, be a guy that had the season I had and didn't finish it the way I needed to finish it. From a personal standpoint, I just didn't do what I needed to do, do enough, so I was like,

• 14:12Speaker 03

  you know, you, you found a way, everybody needed to get motivated by something, and that's something that just motivated me to like, like, that's the only thing I'm chasing now. You know, it wasn't about individual accolades, it wasn't about individual success, I was like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna put the body work and I'm gonna do everything I can to dominate and take over a game or do whatever I can. So I can do what I can to help this team to be the last team standing and be a world champion. So that was my, that was my mindset. That was my grind after that, so.

• 14:36Fred Taylor?

  What was it like growing up in Pittsburgh and then getting to college, University of Pitt? And seeing these guys coming off, when was the last year you guys won the championship?

• 14:45Speaker 03

  Last one we won was the 08-09.

• 14:47Fred Taylor?

  08-09? He was 2010 at Pitt.

• 14:51Speaker 03

  That was my freshman year.

• 14:53Fred Taylor?

  Growing up, the whole Steel current, you know, the, the history of the Steelers. I mean, I'm, I grew up a fan of the Steelers. I can only imagine someone like you, born and raised there, coming up in, you know, in that region. How, like, take us back to, to your youth and, you know, your matriculation throughout.

• 15:11Speaker 03

  Grew up in the inner city of Pittsburgh, Lincoln, Leamington. Grew up in a football home, was blessed to have a mom and dad. I got older brother, older sister in the house that look up to and, you know, to keep you on track. Obviously, you got people outside of the home that, you know, temptations and things like that. My thing, since I was five or six years old, I was always like, I want to make it to the NFL, you know? And that's what everybody want to do coming forward.

• 15:31Fred Taylor?

  Five or six?

• 15:32Speaker 03

  Five or six years old. I started playing when I was five years old. I quit when I was five. I came back when I was six and been playing. I've been playing ever since until, till now. But that was, we was a football family, man, and, you know, grew up watching the Steelers, big Steelers fans, um, you know? When they was at the Super Bowl, we, we had a Super Bowl party at my uncle's house, all the family there. So, you know, you got a lot of good memories of seeing him come down, crashing, hitting people. Paul Amali jumping over, doing some crazy stuff. Harrison, you got, um, Porter, you got big Casey Hampton, one of the, you know, biggest guys, super quick though. You know what I'm saying? You know, face mask on his face. He was so quick, so like.

• 16:06Fred Taylor?

  Nobody did it better.

• 16:07Speaker 03

  Nobody, and I, and I don't understand why people don't talk about that guy enough, but, you know? But that's different for me because I got to watch him a lot.

• 16:13Fred Taylor?

  He could penetrate. Casey was two gap.

• 16:15Ryan Clark?

  I mean, he played his role.

• 16:17Speaker 03

  I seen him do some stuff where he would cock that stands a little bit, hit that quick swim and get in the backfield like that and make a TFL. So I like stuff like that.

• 16:24Ryan Clark?

  Right.

• 16:24Speaker 03

  You know, he can, as a nose tap, you pull the tape too, but you can split and make the big plays when you need to make the big plays. You gotta take them chances. So I'm just seeing that growing up, coming out of, you know, high school, obviously, you know, I'm only 6'1" and you ain't the biggest guy. You 260. You think you get to 300 pounds? Hell, no, I can't get to 300 pounds. I don't want to be 300 pounds. So, you know, coming out, you was always, you know, people don't know if you gonna really be able to translate what you did to high school to college because you ain't the biggest guy. So, you know, coming out, I had Toledo, Akron, and then University of Pittsburgh. The only, you know, three offers I had.

• 16:55Ryan Clark?

  Wow.

• 16:56Speaker 03

  And I was, and I was actually really, I was good. I was the same player I am now in high school. I was making the same plays, had two interceptions, had touchdowns. So I felt like I was good. But, you know, people ain't think I was the biggest guy and, you know, it's a part of the game. I just kept working, you know. Pitt was my dream school. Only, I really didn't watch college growing up anyway. I watched Pitt a little bit. So, you know, I went to Pitt, you know, ran and do what I needed to do, had the opportunity to, you know, end up having some, a good career there. Went to the ACC my last year, dominated that and, you know, won a bunch of awards, All-American. Then they're like, all right, maybe you could be a first-round pick. But I, you did that in college, but I don't think you can do to translate that in NFL. I'm like, God damn, what else I gotta do? You know, you go to the Senior Bowl, you dominate. You gonna be able to pass first,

• 17:41Speaker 03

  but you ain't gonna be able to stop the run in the NFL. That's what, that's what the D-line coaches was telling me. I'm like, all right, then you go and you run a four assist to the combine. You're like, all right, maybe he gonna, he gonna go in the first round. But you never know. So, and St. Louis Rams at the time took a chance on me. Coach Fish, Coach Waff, them guys, and Greg Williams gave me an opportunity and then, you know, was in the best situation for me with a great D-line, great D-line coach. And then the rest is history for me.

• 18:06Ryan Clark?

  I have a question about Coach Waff, who, by the way, cried when they drafted you. Rand Carthon said, he went up to him and he was like, man, we got your guy. And his head was down on the desk. And when he looked up, he had a tear in his eye. Because he obviously believed and knew you could be who you were. When you go to your top 30 visit and y'all busting the room with Les Snead and Jeff Fisher.

• 18:36Ryan Clark?

  What do you remember the most about the Johnny Manziel room?

• 18:40Speaker 03

  I just remember Johnny Manziel on a screen with just shorts on, no shirt on, and I'm looking. I just, it was awkward, you know, because everybody like, why the hell is he in here? And Waff is like, this is Aaron Donald, this is gonna be a first round pick. And I'm like, he, you know, Waff taller than me, so I'm looking up, looking like, how y'all doing? Like, they're like, all right, like, get your ass out type of thing. So it just felt super awkward. And Waff told me, man, if you there, I know they gonna probably go offense the first pick, um, because they had two picks in the first round, second, and then 13. He's like, but if you there at 13, we taking you. I'm like, but that's Robert Quinn just came off 19 and a half.

• 19:10Ryan Clark?

  Brock was there.

• 19:11Speaker 03

  Brock, they had Big Kendall, they had Chris Long.

• 19:14Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 19:14Speaker 03

  Will Hay, so they had depth and they had a lot of D-line. I'm like, all right, well, but, you know, I'm just thinking, y'all already loaded, y'all don't need me. So I'm thinking I'm gonna go to Detroit, probably Detroit, Dallas. Um, so I ain't know. Then 13 come, you get that call, and then I'm like, wow. Like, that's, that's all you waiting for, that opportunity to be like, I'm in the NFL, that's, not long I dreamed this. I mean, I'm here, I made it. And all this time, I was like, I remember crying with my family, crying like a baby. It's, it's go time, it's time to work now. And then, you know, went in there with the right mindset, had Waff was a, I think. Now, I remember, I was in there early, I was in the OTAs practice. I'm watching film by myself, I had to break down film all the time. When I first got there, I had them break me a film down of Warren Sapp and John Randall

• 19:58Speaker 03

  and, um, Leroy Glover, just guys that had success in the NFL, that had my body type. Just to watch them, see, see stuff that they did, see similarities in body movements and things like that. Just studying. And I remember him coming in, he raising the board, he said, he looked at me, he said, I'm gonna be in here, I'm gonna be coaching, I'm gonna be saying a lot of shit. I don't want you to listen to nothing I say. I just want you, when you go on the football field, I just want you to go out there and play. The same thing you did in college, just do here, and I want to learn from you. I'm like, okay, I said, all right, coach. But for me, that was like motivation. He opened the door like, just go, do whatever you did to get here, do that right now. I don't care if you jump out your gap, just make the play. Just, you, you gave me freedom. I'm like, I ain't did shit in this league yet, I ain't did shit in practice or nothing.

• 20:39Speaker 03

  I started doing that, flying around, making plays at practice, like, damn, maybe he might be just like that. You do things at camp, I see what to do with the pads on. The same thing, flying around, making plays. So I'm having a coach that liked that, that gave me an opportunity to believe me right away, just to go out there and just play. Like, and they having a good group, a good, great D-line group around me. So it was like. It's hard to fail with some people.

• 21:01Ryan Clark?

  I have a question. Is there an urban legend that, because there's no way you did this in high school. There is no way you looked at your coach, Coach Gibbs, every, like, every snap so he could tell you what pass rush move to use.

• 21:15Speaker 03

  Nah, that's not true.

• 21:16Ryan Clark?

  Okay.

• 21:17Speaker 03

  He gave me some, he gave me a lot of good tips, but not every play though. You know, Coach Gibbs, my dog, we still talk to this day. After every NFL game, you know, you looked good, you should have did this, did the same stuff you always did, but, you know, he definitely was a key part, you know, the player that I became from, you know, listening to him. He's the guy, this is why I take coaching now because of Coach Gibbs. Early, early in high school, hard headed, you know, my dad gave me the green light to kind of, you know, get up, you know.

• 21:48Ryan Clark?

  Because you only had one pass rush move when you first got to high school.

• 21:51Speaker 03

  What was it?

• 21:52Ryan Clark?

  I don't know. He wouldn't say.

• 21:53Speaker 03

  It was multiple. You know, I had, I was.

• 21:55Ryan Clark?

  He wouldn't say. He said you had, he said you had one pass rush move and said you couldn't do it till you learned some more.

• 22:00Speaker 03

  Yeah, he was right.

• 22:02Ryan Clark?

  What was the one? Can we learn that? Because now he said you were still doing it.

• 22:04Speaker 03

  All I did was the quick swim. In high school, the quick swim was, soon as the ball snapped, I'm just using my quickness and beating the gap before you get out there snapping them in the backfield. Then that's when he started learning, teaching me the swipes and different things. And once he started doing that, like, in high school, that's when I started getting the interceptions and making the big plays and multiple plays.

• 22:23Ryan Clark?

  You got beat up by a whole team?

• 22:25Speaker 03

  He helped. They tried to jump me. He was in there throwing them with me. I'm in there. Always the one that got him raw. I didn't get beat up. The whole team tried to jump me at the scrimmage, man.

• 22:35Ryan Clark?

  He tackled his quarterback. He went post tackle the quarterback and they put hands on him.

• 22:39Speaker 03

  It's football, man. I don't want to hear none of that. We ain't getting paid for this. That was high school.

• 22:45Ryan Clark?

  Is that why you beat people in the head with helmets?

• 22:48Speaker 03

  When you did when I did that? When?

• 22:51Ryan Clark?

  At practice.

• 22:51Speaker 03

  What practice?

• 22:52Ryan Clark?

  Bengals.

• 22:53Speaker 03

  You see me swinging helmets? Or did you just see me with helmets?

• 22:56Ryan Clark?

  Two of them.

• 22:57Speaker 03

  Did you see me swinging helmets?

• 22:58Ryan Clark?

  You had two of them.

• 22:59Speaker 03

  Did I swing the helmet? Did you see me?

• 23:00Ryan Clark?

  I saw, I saw projectile.

• 23:04Speaker 03

  I was the peacemaker that day. It just happened and I don't know how. That was peaceful. I hate to see when you mad. Man, they had an offensive lineman that kept fighting one of our guys. The whole practice, it's one on ones. I'm like, and he kept doing it. He did at least five times. I looked at Sean, you know, you get your breaks before. I looked at Sean, I said, listen, Sean, I've been breaking, I've been a peacemaker. I've been breaking up these fights this whole practice. I said, if they do it again, I'm gonna feel like they think they gonna think they trying to bully us. I'm gonna shut the practice down. He said, Aaron, I understand, I understand. I'm just letting you know, Coach. And that was that. We was cool. Wasn't mad, wasn't no. We going first play, he come out, he threw a punch at him. They start fighting. I grabbed dude, he slows him down. My guys start beating him up.

• 23:48Speaker 03

  And I don't know if you ever been to football abroad, but it's just a bunch of people. And then you just like, you gotta protect yourself. And I don't know, I blacked out from there. I don't know what happened. But I just remember come getting pushed out the pound, thinking the whole team coming. And then it was just a blackout moment. But it was just, I was the peacemaker. Then it just, it just happened how it happened. We did to become the peacemaker. I gotta protect my guys to protect myself too.

• 24:08Ryan Clark?

  It's the worst to be the little dude though, in the team fight. Cause like with little dudes, I'm cutting up. Wide receivers, running backs. But then you run up to like, Aaron, you like, shit.

• 24:18Speaker 03

  Nah, I'm 6'1". I'm going against him 6'7". I'm looking at this guy, I grabbed him before he grabbed me.

• 24:25Ryan Clark?

  So how you think Devonte Freeman felt though? When you had that man?

• 24:27Speaker 03

  He started with me that time. What Red Daddy said on Friday? No. No.

• 24:36Fred Taylor?

  We sat down with Coach last year? Yeah, last year during the Training Camp show. And a lot of that conversation was about not having, you know, the amount of veteran leadership in a locker room that you guys were used to having in the previous years. Obviously, you know, Coop was there, you was there. But he said that you guys had the most rookies on the roster in the entire NFL. What was it like going through that season, you know, contemplating retirement and, you know, setting up for post-football? Did that have any involvement in your decision? What was that like?

• 25:12Speaker 03

  I ain't gonna lie, going into it, getting ready for camp, I was a little disappointed because I'm like, I knew it was gonna be my last year, year 10, I already knew this was gonna be my last year, I'm like, and I came back to trying to win another Super Bowl and I'm like, I ain't bringing no veteran help, I'm like, I got a bunch of young guys, so you don't know what to expect with that, you know, you don't know how these young guys is gonna come in, or how they gonna play, but I'm like, as long as they bringing guys that's, they got the mindset to work, right, so I don't want no guys that's like, half-assed and like, just follow my lead, follow the veteran, because we had Cooper Cup, you know, he working, Matthew Stafford, he's working, I know I'm working, so as long as you follow them key guys and learn and see how they working, and everything gonna play how it supposed to play out, so I didn't know what to expect, I was a little like, I'm like, I don't know if I could do this, this is gonna be a long season, because I already

• 25:57Speaker 03

  know it's gonna be triple teamed and like, I ain't gonna get no help, but honestly, man, it ended up being a super fun year for me, I enjoyed every moment of it, I just took it all in, because going into my year 10, I knew it was gonna be my last year, so I just, my mindset that year was just like, just take it all in, like I'm just a kid playing low-league football again, like, every experience, enjoy it, like, enjoy the young guys, I had so much fun with them guys, and just, to see them grow from camp to being a team that make it to a playoff, that, you know, having a cold, starting to getting back hot, and like, man, it was so fun to watch these guys, to watch them guys grow and had a success and be a part of the team, and like, I had more fun than what I thought I was gonna have, man, and I felt like I was able to, they sent me out the right way,

• 26:41Speaker 03

  I felt like, you know, so I appreciate that, man, and it was frustrating at first, but it ended up turning, ended up being one of them, you know, fun years and exciting years, so.

• 26:49Fred Taylor?

  They sent you out the right way, but I think, deservedly, you sent Coach Morris out the right way. How did you feel when you heard that he got the head coaching job?

• 26:58Speaker 03

  I was happy, as soon as I seen that, before I could even text him, he was calling me, he told me thank you, I said, thank you, what'd I do? He was like, man, you did this, he always say that, but I was just happy, man, because I know, obviously, he been waiting to get the opportunity again, me having a personal conversations with him over the years, and, you know, me personally, we, you know, that's my dog, like, beyond football, you know, we, I got a real relationship with him, real love, so to see him do that, man, I wish nothing but the best, you know, I be watching, you know, hopefully they have a lot of success, you know, I was proud of him, so.

• 27:26Ryan Clark?

  I tell everybody, I retired in November of my last year, I was sitting on the sofa, I could barely walk around my house during the week, like, what it took for me to get ready for the game. Was way too much for the reward of the game anymore for me. We weren't winning. I was in Washington. And I just remember going into the last game, knowing it, knowing that it was gonna be the last one, and the last play, just walking off the field, and I thought about every moment that got me there. You knew that going into the last game as well. You just didn't know what the last game would be because you guys made the playoffs. When you're, when you're leaving the field in Detroit, what were those moments like for you right after the game ends?

• 28:11Speaker 03

  After a loss like that, I'm a guy that's usually, I'm mad. Like, I don't talk to nobody, but after that, man, I'm like, I gave my D-line coach, Coach Henny, a hug. You know, I see my, my family was there in the suite. I'm waving at the family. The fans say, eh. Yeah, I'm in good spirits because I'm just, I'm just taking it all in, man. Because I know that's my last time suited up, walking off a football field, getting out to play some ball. So it's like, I just, I just, I was just taking all the moments in, man. And like, you know, looking around, like, just, you know, thanking everybody, getting everybody that, you know, hugs, walking up. I remember walking before I walked in the locker room. Sean was like this, gave Sean a big hug. He like, this, this is it? I said, yeah. And then he said his words, and so we was gonna talk later. Went in there, Crunky was in there. I gave him a big hug, told him thank you. I don't know if he knew I was saying thank you, but gave him a, you know.

• 28:56Speaker 03

  And then I remember just, you know, taking my shoulder pads off. I got on one knee, I'm untieing my spike, and my eyes just start watering. I'm like, I'm like, damn, I'm like, you know, I ain't wanna cry. I ain't wanna be like that guy. I ain't gonna make a scene like this much, but I'm just like, damn, this is the last time in the locker room after playing a game that I'm gonna be taking my spikes off. And like, and I sat there for one, and just like, just absorbing and taking it all in, man. It was like, been playing since I was five or six years old. Thirty-two, I was thirty-two years, thirty-two years old at the time. So it was like, that was a long journey to, you know, be at this point, to be like, this is the last time I'm ever gonna play football again. So it was like, just a lot of moments, a lot of things just hit you at once, man. And you just, you just thankful for the opportunity that you had, and to be in a position that you're in, and to be able to leave the way you get to leave on your own terms.

• 29:40Speaker 03

  And a lot of people don't get the opportunity to do that.

• 29:43Ryan Clark?

  Bro, like, you always talk about the respect of the game, and your respect in the game. Like, what, is there a moment? Because people, bro, you one of the best to ever do it. A L T is my favorite player. And when your ass started playing, I had to bite my tongue like, shit. That motherfucker might got A L T.

• 30:04Speaker 03

  But you got, it's different times though.

• 30:06Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 30:07Speaker 03

  The game changed so much from then to even before I got in the league to when I was there to now. It's different than when I'm them. It's just different generations.

• 30:15Channing Crowder?

  Is there a moment in your career or just somebody says something to you, some OG or some current player just walked up to you where the respect that you have in this game that we all have respect for you that you really saw like, I don't, Aaron Donald's a name in football.

• 30:30Speaker 03

  My rookie year, we played the Chargers and Rivers came up to me after the game, you know, shook my hand. He said, you're gonna be a monster in this league. You're gonna be a special player. He says something in them type of words and I'm like, I appreciate it. And I remember what, you know, I'm a football guy. I watch football. I watch all sports and you know, you know, the key guys and I, just from a four, I respected him from, you know, from what he did as a, you know, as a football player in this league and then to hear somebody, I'm a rookie. I ain't really did not yet. I had a couple of good games. That's how I thought like, I don't look, you know, I'm like, I gotta do it again and again every single week. So for a guy that been in this league a long time to see that and see the potential in me, you know, it was like, all right, maybe, all right, let's

• 31:12Speaker 03

  just keep going. So I was just a guy that never got too high, got too low, just kept working. I just stayed in my own world. Like even when people praise you, it ain't like, yeah, I made it. I'm that, I'm this. I'm like, I still gotta work. You know what I'm saying? You have a good year. That's old. Now I gotta have another good year because you can't, I can't live off what I did in the past. I gotta, you know, be now in the present. So that's my mindset is to continue to work, continue to, you know, find ways to get better.

• 31:37Speaker 00

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• 31:47Speaker 01

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• 31:55Speaker 00

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• 32:07Ryan Clark?

  Seeing your family in Detroit, you know, I don't know if they went to every away game, but I'm sure they knew as well.

• 32:14Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 32:14Ryan Clark?

  It was possible for it to be over. You know, we just got all kind of great connections. I mean, you're from Pittsburgh. I played in Pittsburgh. I went to LSU. Your wife went to LSU. So now it lets me know you're also a genius. Not only one of the greatest athletes to ever play football. But did you really propose twice?

• 32:32Speaker 03

  Yeah, because you, the first time I proposed without a ring.

• 32:36Ryan Clark?

  Why did you, why did you propose then if you didn't have? It just spurred him on.

• 32:39Speaker 03

  We was in La Ni, Hawaii. It's like a private island. We did our first trip. And like, I was, you know, you got love and you know she's the, but you don't never know until you really like, I got to be with her, got to experience like the time with her. And I'm like, God damn this, we here like four days. We extended a little longer. I'm like, I ain't trying to, I'm enjoying this with my, you know, she might, she's the one. I'm like, I just wanted the emotion. I got a one knee like, hey, will you marry me? She thinking I'm playing. I'm like, I looked at him, I'm serious. She said, yeah. And then she thought I was playing the whole time. Like, I'm serious. I really proposed to her. I just didn't have a ring, so I didn't have to propose to her again. But yeah, I proposed to her twice.

• 33:19Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, encroachment.

• 33:25Ryan Clark?

  You lined up all sides, bro.

• 33:26Speaker 03

  Man, I was in love. I got them big heart eyes. I'm like, this is me, please marry me now, baby.

• 33:32Channing Crowder?

  I need to know the prior 15 minutes to you proposing without a ring.

• 33:38Speaker 03

  It was off raw emotions.

• 33:40Channing Crowder?

  What were y'all doing?

• 33:41Speaker 03

  It wasn't like, I wasn't even like, I'm going to do this. It was just whatever we was doing, whatever the mood was, what was going on was like, I felt like that's what I wanted to do at that time. And that's what I did. And she was going to say, yeah, no.

• 33:55Ryan Clark?

  So when you went to Hawaii, this was in no way to plan?

• 33:59Speaker 03

  Wasn't planned at all. I wasn't like, I'm going to propose to her. It was just, it was just all raw emotion and love and all that.

• 34:05Ryan Clark?

  So you had such a great time in Hawaii for four days.

• 34:09Speaker 03

  No, it was longer than four days.

• 34:11Ryan Clark?

  Okay, that's, you realize, while you wait, while he was out there.

• 34:15Speaker 03

  Well, you gotta say, I knew it for a while.

• 34:16Ryan Clark?

  He was like Harlem nights. Mama, I ain't never coming home.

• 34:22Speaker 03

  But me and my wife, we was friends before we was in a relationship. So we was like real, we was cool. So she would hang, we would have, we wasn't like nothing, like it was just like hanging like this. We have a drink and we would just talk it up. She know like personal stuff, relationship stuff, like she was the homie. She just, we got to be, started being around each other so much. We started getting, go, get to know each other a little different. And I was like, dang. She started to grow on me like, hold up, man. Like it was that one time she didn't come, come to the house and hang. I'm like, damn, I wonder what she doing right now, but I don't want, but I don't want to text her. And I found out she was thinking the same things. So I'm like, you know, everything happened for a reason, man. And I just, I'm blessed to have the wife I got, man, because she's definitely gonna be, she's a huge part of, you know, everything I got going on off the field.

• 35:07Speaker 03

  Obviously, she's my, she ain't just my wife, she's my partner in business. Um, she's an amazing mom, she's an amazing stepmom, so family lover, you know. So I'm just, you know, I'm in a position that I got a lot of great people around me, got a, a, a great person next to me.

• 35:21Fred Taylor?

  Woman so nice, she had to propose twice. Lenai. Walulu.

• 35:27Speaker 03

  It's called Lenai. Ayy, it's like a private island out there.

• 35:32Fred Taylor?

  Now you guys, uh, your, your relationship is amazing. I think that, that interview, you know, when you announced your retirement, that first interview, I think it was perfect. How, um, did she prepare? Like she's, like she's amazing at it.

• 35:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, she's really good.

• 35:46Fred Taylor?

  At what she does, like the questions and everything, the whole setup.

• 35:52Fred Taylor?

  Journalism?

• 35:52Speaker 03

  LSU, it's what we do. It's what we do.

• 35:55Fred Taylor?

  So she's journalism background? Shout out to E. I mean, because it seems as if she has a journalism background with the questions she asked.

• 36:01Speaker 03

  No, she just, she just, so this was the thing, I, when I said, I always told her I was going, um, when I was retired, she was like, let me do your first interview. When you retire, I said, alright. And I retired, she was like, alright, I'm doing your first interview. Because that, that's when a lot of people started reaching out, like, you want an interview? I'm like, my wife, she's like, no, no. You said I could get the first interview. So I was like, alright, wifey gonna do the first interview. And she, she did all that by herself. We, we set up at my childhood home. Obviously, it look a little different now, they got it redid, but that was my childhood home. We was in the living room and, you know, had a little mimosa before the, the, you know, before the interview to relax a little bit. And she answered the question and... I ain't know what she was gonna ask. She just started off and did it how she did it.

• 36:41Fred Taylor?

  Yeah, it was great. I was gonna ask you if it was, did you kinda get a sneak peek of some of the questions?

• 36:47Speaker 03

  I think she asked me a couple of questions that she was gonna ask, but that was all, I ain't know what was going on.

• 36:51Fred Taylor?

  How do you get access to the childhood home? Is that still, you still own it?

• 36:55Speaker 03

  Yeah, we still own it. We still, we still, we re-done the whole house. We pretty much did the whole downstairs. We did the whole weight room downstairs in the basement. Doing some work at it right now, so that's a, that's a forever home. We ain't never getting rid of that home, so.

• 37:08Ryan Clark?

  You know, you said that Pitt was your dream school, and I have this conversation with a lot of people that they don't see Pitt the way I sort of got to see it. And within my time there, you know, I was a little bit after Larry. I was there, obviously, during your career and also Darrell Rivas. That's three of the best players to play football in the modern era, but are going to be talked about as the best player at their position during the modern era. Do you ever think about, like, what you've added to the legacy of that school on the heels of what those two were able to do?

• 37:51Speaker 03

  Yeah, no. You know, we, we talk a lot of trash. You know, everybody be like, Pitt ain't this. And I'm like, we, we got a lot of Hall of Fame, a lot of greats. People like, who, who? Tony Dorsett, Marina. I'm like, what? He went there? Like, I'm like, yeah, man, so.

• 38:05Speaker 03

  Just, just to be up there, like, going back and, and being in the indoor, seeing my, you know, my banners hanging up, or going back to the Aaron Donald Performance Center and walking through and seeing my picture and seeing my name on top of it, you know, that's, that's crazy. That's a legacy. That's, that's, that's gonna be there forever, you know? That's, that's something that I can show my kids. My, my kids get to see, and when they grow, they can see, and like, that's, that's special for me, man. It's like, cause I always wanted a lot from this game, but it gave me so much more that I thought was even, you know, possible, man. And it's like.

• 38:38Speaker 03

  My eyes watered. But it's crazy, man. I wanted great things. I wanted to get myself at a certain point, but just working, man, and grinding and never allow negativity or positivity to affect where I'm trying to go and just staying like this. Everything that came from this game, from just putting the body working, it's like, it's crazy.

• 39:01Channing Crowder?

  Are you still surprised how good you were? This shit like-

• 39:04Speaker 03

  It's still hard to let it all sink. So much like, I don't really think everything sunk in yet, you know? There's certain things like, you know, some, like even when I retired and the Rams put out, you know, their little highlights and I'm watching that early in the morning, but I'm like, ooh. Because you, it's just so much, man, because I just see the, I just know how much work I put into behind the scenes. I know the film, I know the, the training, I know, you know, the recovery stuff I had to do. I know all that, that to get to myself to be the player that I had to be, it's like, but I, I just, you know, you, you dream big, but when you surpass things that you dreamed, it's like, it's, it's different, man. You know what I'm saying? It's different.

• 39:43Fred Taylor?

  Is there a, is there a player that you probably never got an opportunity to play with that you wish could have been on the D-line next to you?

• 39:50Speaker 03

  Heck, yeah. You got Fletcher Cox. I would have loved to have him as my nose tackle. I got to play with Vaughn. I would have said Vaughn, but we got Vaughn. I was so happy. We got him that year. Oh, my gosh. I was so happy. Chris Jones, you know, I seen him early when he was, you know, before he became more of a household name, you know, I seen, I used to be a guy that like, he used to always be like, I remember we, we played him in that game. We played the Chiefs here.

• 40:13Ryan Clark?

  Like 50 or 54 game?

• 40:15Speaker 03

  Yeah, I remember he was like, man, how the hell you keep getting all these sacks? You just had 14, now you at 60. I keep trying to catch you and every time I try to catch you. So that's when I first seen him, we, we exchanged jerseys. That's when I really started to pay attention to him more and I was like, yeah, he gonna be, he gonna be a problem. So a guy like that, so, for me, it's more interior rushers that I wish I would have got the opportunity to play with than edge guys. Like, edge guys is good, but, you know, you still gonna get the slide and, and things like that. And all they can do is they can still chip down with the tackle and all they do is bring that tight end and help slow that end down. So if, if, if anything, I, I rather more of a, a presence. Like when I had Sue that year, just him, his name alone took a lot of pressure off me. And that's why them sacks was like, they was coming, like three, four at a time, you know, so. But a guy that I, even when he was like, was that two years ago, I think Fletcher Cox?

• 41:00Speaker 03

  They had released with the Eagles, then he went back?

• 41:04Speaker 03

  What you, I just said to let you go, what you about to do? Cause we got the same agent, so I called my agent like, "Tail flex, um, you know, coming this way." I know you're three tech, but tell him to get his nose work over here, man, you know what I'm saying?

• 41:16Fred Taylor?

  If you can go a step further, that year when Gurley was going crazy, that was the Super Bowl year. Was that 19?

• 41:22Speaker 03

  18, 19.

• 41:23Fred Taylor?

  18, 19? If you can build your all-time D-line, you gotta add another DT to the ends next to you from the greats to stop what? Yeah, from all of the greats to stop what?

• 41:36Speaker 03

  Too many football players. I mean, you gotta give him that. Okay, I was gonna say, it's way too many greats. And you talking about more in my generation or guys I seen play?

• 41:45Fred Taylor?

  Like whoever you wanna put on, you obviously, but you gotta add just three more guys.

• 41:50Speaker 03

  Four-three, yeah, go four.

• 41:51Fred Taylor?

  Four-three.

• 41:52Speaker 03

  So I'm putting myself at three tech.

• 41:54Fred Taylor?

  Okay.

• 41:55Speaker 03

  A nose tackle in his prime. I'm gonna just say in my era more, I'm gonna do flex your cocks. I'm gonna put him at my nose tackle, so I'm at three, he's at nose. At my end, shit, there's so many good edge rushers now.

• 42:10Fred Taylor?

  You gotta start to run too.

• 42:12Speaker 03

  Yeah, I gotta put Vaughn out there, cause Vaughn, he can do it all. And then he's smart, and then he's perfect with the game, when you run games with him. I love running games with him. So I gotta put Vaughn out there, and then for a big body guy, I gotta do like a, um...

• 42:28Speaker 03

  You got TJ Watt out there, you got... Monster. Miles Garrett out there.

• 42:36Speaker 03

  You got, damn, when Kaleo Mack, when he's on fire, that's some power coming on the other edge to collapse the whole other side of... Let me pick Kaleo Mack out there, I need a guy that's gonna work some power, he can collapse a whole...

• 42:46Fred Taylor?

  I just wanna put a little pressure on him.

• 42:48Speaker 03

  I'm gonna do those guys great choices. I like that, cause I got Vaughn with the speed, a little finesse, and he gonna hit you with some power. Me, power, finesse, you got, you got big flex that's explosive as hell, quick as hell. And then you got Kaleo Mack that's just powerful, and he got some bendability.

• 43:07Speaker 03

  I like, yeah, I like that D-line. That's a fun, that's a fun D-line.

• 43:10Ryan Clark?

  That's a hell of a fun. You, you are a workoutaholic now, right? Talk a little bit about Big Archie and your brother just working out at the crib and sort of showing you and instilling that fire in you that that's how you prepare to be great.

• 43:28Speaker 03

  So, we, my dad, we, for years, we always laughed. He's like, I always say, you was, you was preparing, like, you was preparing me to be a pro before we even know what we was doing, right? So, at 12 years old, you know, he's, I was la- a lazy kid, you know? So, my dad was like, I'm gonna start making you work out with me. So, I'm like, god damn, I gotta work out with him every day now? You know, you know, you come home from school, you gotta work out, and the mornings you gotta work out, so, you know, at first, it was like, he kinda forced me to do it. And then, you know, once you start getting on a routine, you start doing it, you start seeing a little change in your body, like, everybody can't see it, but I see, I see a little muscle coming right here and there, I'm like, hold up. Okay, I'm gonna keep doing it. Then you start seeing a change in your body, and you, and I'm like, I'm starting, you get, kinda get addicted to it, so, you know, it became a, just came a part of my life to the

• 44:12Speaker 03

  point where, you know, in high school, you know, we wake up 4:30 in the morning before we went to school, and I work with my dad, and, you know, then, you know, shower and then go to school, and then go to football practice later that day and do everything with the team, so, um, it, it, it just became a routine, man, from just working and seeing the change, and you get addicted to that, to the point where, you know, my dad used to wake me up to the point, I used to be, I had to wake my dad up, he's like, hey, dad, it's 4:30 it's time, man, we got, we got school in a couple hours, let's go, you know what I'm saying? So, um, him instilling that work ethic into me at a young age just transpired to so much more than what we thought it was gonna be, man, and, you know, I always thank my dad, can't thank him enough, cause, you know, when it comes to my work ethic and the way I am, just in my everyday life now, he always told me, you know...

• 44:57Speaker 03

  Working out, you gonna see a change in your body, but you gonna see the way you carry yourself in your everyday life is gonna change too. And I'm like, alright, man. And then, you know, you start doing them things, you start seeing all the hard work pay off, all the, you know, you start doing things differently, everyday life, now you a little bit more structured, you know. You work a little harder at practice now, you know, you had to do five laps, but you gonna be the extra guy that's gonna stay, or you gonna do 10 now, you know. And then the people around you see that now, I can't let them out work now, and they with me, but they don't really know, you being a leader, just off what you doing, and they following everything you do, now you making everybody better. So, just getting addicted to that, man, that my daddy instilled into me at a young age, and it grew to what it was.

• 45:33Channing Crowder?

  And, bro, I've heard you say before, I think it, it probably was when your wife interviewed you when you retired, and you said, you're almost opening up the door for a 6'1", 265-pound D-tackle. I don't think you are, I think you're an outlier. I think you're an aberration. You are not opening the door for nobody your height and weight to be a D-tackle. I think you just a bad motherfucker that choke the shit out of people.

• 46:01Speaker 03

  No, you give opportunities. Now, it ain't like, a guy that's that size, that weight, before they was like, no, we need a guy that's 6'3", 6'4", 300 pounds, but if you see the guys that's getting drafted now, guys is built, yeah, guys is built a little different. You got guys that, D-tackles are 6'1", 6'2", now they ain't really looking for, you know, the, because the game changed, everything's so lateral, it's all about, you know, it's different now. So, you really don't need them, you don't really need them big body guys, but not for first down now, you know, so. The game changed, and, you know, on top of that, I felt like just opened up the door for a lot. Just same, same thing I say about Agino Atkins, you know, he wasn't the biggest guy, but I watched the Steelers all the time, they played him twice a year, and he used to throw them off of slamming them around like, manhandle.

• 46:46Speaker 03

  So, you know, he opened up the door for me, because, you know, he was probably 6'2", 6'3", I don't, I think he was more like 6'2", he was like my height when I met him. So, you know, he opened up the door for me, and then, you know, you do the same things, and now these coaches and these people that's going through these rooms and looking at these players is like, shit, maybe that can be the next, that person, that could be the next, that's all they looking for, that's how, I feel like that's how it work, you know.

• 47:09Channing Crowder?

  But, you're violent.

• 47:11Speaker 03

  You gotta be, that's football.

• 47:12Channing Crowder?

  Where did your violence come from? Because you ain't even, we came, when we come to the Rams camp? Last year.

• 47:17Ryan Clark?

  Last year. You had a look, like you, you have a look. He's mean, bro. You're a mi- not a nice guy.

• 47:23Channing Crowder?

  I'm glad you said it, because I didn't want to get mad at me.

• 47:25Ryan Clark?

  He's not a nice guy. His daddy said he was mean too.

• 47:27Channing Crowder?

  He could probably wear a man's goddamn flip flops.

• 47:28Ryan Clark?

  He mean, bro. Like, where does that come from, that mean, that violence that you're laughing now, but we've watched you play like you don't enjoy other people touching you.

• 47:38Speaker 03

  That's Big Boom. That's my dad. He still does to me. He created alphas, I'm an alpha male, so you gotta know the story about how my dad is and how he's raised. I don't want to go into his background, but he was a big, strong guy and a guy that was well-respected and, you know, he picked my hands on somebody quick and you get out of hand, so, you know, I was, I ain't have to look outside my household to look up to nobody. I had my dad, I had my brother, you know, I had them people in my household to look up to, so my dad built us this way, so, you know, I'm just, it's hard for me to, if we on a football field, definitely in football, like a guy bumping to you, I can't just walk away from that, because I can't, you know, I got kids. How am I gonna raise my son and protect yourself if I just let another man bully me and think that...

• 48:20Speaker 03

  It's just hard for me to walk away from stuff like that, so I just, I demand respect, and I ain't doing nothing dis- but if you gonna disrespect me and think you can, you know, you gonna have to show me. That's how I see it, so sometimes, I'm a little better with it than what I was early in my career, because I was snapping and might get kicked out of game, but now, you know, I was a little bit more better with it, but I just demand respect, you know, I just... And it's not an act, it's not me trying to pretend like I'm just, like I tell you, I'm just an alpha male.

• 48:49Ryan Clark?

  You are not acting at all.

• 48:50Speaker 03

  I'm just, I'm just an alpha male. I've been like that, but I'm telling you, I've been like that since little league, since high school. You can, as any coach, any person that ever been around me, my, I never changed. I'm a happy guy, I'm a good, but just don't get me into one of my, that little, I got an evil side. Like, everybody else got a little mean side to them and...

• 49:07Ryan Clark?

  Like, you got a lime in Napoleon complex, because you're actually not like a little human in real life. Like, you're a lot bigger than me. Like, I wouldn't try to, you know what I'm saying? But I think because you was in the trenches and you was like, and probably, I mean, you said you was the fat kid. They probably made you play up. Did they make you play up when you was younger?

• 49:27Speaker 03

  All the time. So, the only years I played with kids my age was when I was six years old. Ever since then, I played with kids older than me.

• 49:32Ryan Clark?

  So, they was probably taller. See, you just had a Napoleon complex your entire life. Where did you learn to pop face mask off?

• 49:40Speaker 03

  That's a skill.

• 49:42Ryan Clark?

  Listen.

• 49:43Speaker 03

  Now, I don't know how that happened, man. Again, I was a peacemaker that day.

• 49:46Ryan Clark?

  Why every time you fucking people up, you making peace?

• 49:49Speaker 03

  It was Eugene Sims, our defense, and Gray Robinson. They got into a fight in OTA. That was the first year we moved out here. They got into a fight, they fighting, and a big rookie offensive lineman came in and tried to hit the... What is you doing? Back your ass up. And then he was like, he tried. I said, chill out. And I don't know how that thing came. I don't know if he was missing a screw or two. It came off. I remember smacking him two times with it just on it. And then you turn around, his face was like this, a smush. He still had the helmet on his head, man. Everybody clowned him for the rest of the time he was there till he was gone, man. Everybody that was there was a part of that or seen that still talk about that to this day. So that's like my, you know, I always hear that story. So that's funny.

• 50:32Ryan Clark?

  That's how I learned about it.

• 50:33Speaker 03

  That's funny as hell.

• 50:34Ryan Clark?

  When you, you know, you mentioned the hug with Sean. Like the people you do certain things with, you never forget. We got an opportunity to have Coach Tomlin on the show, and it was just such a special moment for me because of all the things we shared, whether it's the hugs, the conversations, the tough times, the great times. What was it about Sean, when he became the head coach, that was able to propel you guys to two Super Bowls and the ring?

• 51:04Speaker 03

  Accountability that started like that, you know, he brought a structure to us, you know. It went from, you know, being at practice our first couple of years before he got there, you know, offense is out there, the defense is on the bed, laying down, we talking, ha, ha, while they out there. Then we get up, we get on the bed, we on the field now, like, there was no structure. Everybody did what they wanted. He came, he kind of, you know, built the team a different way. He was like, all right, you know, you seen it, and then, you know, you just never know what to expect with him. Obviously, a new coach, the youngest head coach in NFL history at the time, too. I'm like, man, I don't know. He said all the good stuff and said the right things, but, you know, I think he just brought accountability. He brought some great structure to the team. And then, obviously, when you, once you start seeing the success you have as a team,

• 51:47Speaker 03

  you kind of buying a little different, too. So, but for me, my relationship with him, it's bigger than football with me because...

• 51:54Ryan Clark?

  What is it about y'all two that makes it bigger than football?

• 51:57Speaker 03

  Because I had a lot of things going off, going on outside of football that, you know, at times, from seventeen, eighteen to on.

• 52:06Speaker 03

  That I was dealing with that was like heavy on me to the point where it was times when I'm like, "Hey, Coach, I ain't playing this week. I gotta go back to Pittsburgh and handle something." Because I, you know, it was just, it was like that and he, and he never was like, "Families first always." He was always there for me to conversate and look out for me on anything I needed from beyond football. It wasn't about football. Even when he called, it's not about like, it wasn't a football conversation. It was, it was about the family, checking on the family, how everybody's doing. And like, for me, that's, that's big. That's huge because I was going through so much. Still going through a lot, but it's settling down a little bit. But for, for somebody to, you know, be there for you when you need them and, you know,

• 52:47Speaker 03

  I guess another comfortability because we shared a lot of good conversations, shared a lot of tears with Sean. You know what I'm saying? So the love I got for him is way bigger than football for me, so.

• 52:57Channing Crowder?

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• 53:17Speaker 07

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• 53:26Ryan Clark?

  How does Aaron Donald deal with tough times though?

• 53:30Speaker 03

  Family, you know, because it was, my wife came at the right time for me. You know, because it was a couple of years early in like that 17, 18 year, definitely that 18 season that, you know, I ended up dropping a bunch of weight. That's why that whole year I played at 255 to 250, that whole season, you know, in 18. So I was going through a lot. Just having good people around me, you know, to, you know, obviously, you know, talking to my family. But now, if I would have to say anything, definitely from that 18 season to now, man, I would say my wife was a huge part of helping me with my mental, being there for me.

• 54:07Speaker 03

  Helping me stay on track, man, and you know, obviously, the goal was that you continue to play the game you love and be able to provide for your family a certain type of way. So having good people around me, you know, to be there for me, to, you know, to deal with a lot of things that's going on with me, to understand, that's what I do it for, that's what I work for, you know, that's what I'm working for now, for my kids, so.

• 54:27Channing Crowder?

  But, bro, was it a switch? You talking about 18, that was, that was one of your best years ever.

• 54:34Speaker 03

  That's what I s- I-

• 54:36Channing Crowder?

  Like, was that, was the, I don't know what the tough times are, I don't know if you want to talk about them, but was it a switch, or was it a motivation? Because 18, you went crazy.

• 54:45Speaker 03

  Yeah, for me, football was always my outlet, you know, I grew up a quiet kid, didn't talk much, so when I put my helmet on and my shoulder pads on, I felt like I turned into like a superhero, and I just, you know, I was able to express myself through football, so, you know, you mad as hell, you want to punch somebody in the face, you can't, I can't do it now as a grown man with some money, I can go to jail and get sued, I can whoop somebody's ass on a football field, though, they make me mad, and I can put my hands on you the right way, or you do it, you get me at a certain point, then I can crash out, we could do it like that, too, so that helped a lot to be able to get a lot of that anger out through football, but just, I think just having, you know, like I said, the good people around me to, you know, keep my mind from, you know, crashing all the way out, you know, honestly, so.

• 55:28Fred Taylor?

  Now that, like, what we try to do on this show, obviously, we, we speak to our brotherhood, you know, and all of the players that watch, former players, you know, current players, etc., and we, we pride ourselves on the transparency, you know, and the conversation is being a safe space. Are, are some of those things that you were going through, are those, can you share some of those things? And if not, that's fine, but on the other side, now that you no longer have football, and football was your safe space, like, what are you going to turn to now to get you out of those moments?

• 56:05Speaker 03

  Well, that situation, it was a lot of stuff that was going on with my kids, my two oldest kids at the time, um- Obviously, it's a little different times now because, you know, my kid is with me more times than, you know, than any, but I think, you know, the thing I try to tell a lot of kids or just older or just players, period, you know, when you're going through something to be able to, you know, you gotta be able to talk to somebody, you know, because holding it in ain't gonna do nothing but kill you, honestly. So, you know, like I said, having my wife and then there was our chapel guy, Calf, you know, always talk to him, you know, time where, you know, I'm about to, you know, there's times you talk to him, you cry, get that out before practice, like, God damn, that wasn't supposed to, you know what I'm saying? But it's a lot that go in that you keep internally that,

• 56:50Speaker 03

  you know, you need to sometimes speak to somebody and get it out, man. So, you know, I always try to give, you know, my advice, definitely with my foundation, 8099 Solutions with these young kids, mentoring them and trying to make sure they're still all right, just to be able to, you know, express yourself and not hold that anger. Because, kid, everybody go through something different, right? Everybody's story is different, everybody's background is different. So to have somebody you can, you know, speak to, to be able to get things off your chest, off your heart, you know, ain't nothing wrong with sharing some tears because sometimes you feel a lot better when you get them, you know, you cry a little bit, you know, honestly. That's just a part of being a man. I consider myself an alpha male, you know, the toughest guy, but I share some tears quick for it, you know what I'm saying? About my family, about my emotions, it's just what it is. So.

• 57:34Ryan Clark?

  The large misconception about alpha males or masculinity as a whole is that it has to always be one way. You have to be tough, you have to present in a certain way, and that's just not true. I think we all deal with emotions differently. I do believe the strength of your story is, like what Channing said, you were dealing with what you were dealing with. And you mentioned your kids. I can't think of anything more difficult than to deal with something than with my babies. And the way that that affects me, the way that it impacts me both emotionally, mentally, and to still go out, because even though it was something about them, you still had to feed them.

• 58:18Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 58:19Ryan Clark?

  You know what I'm saying? And the way that you fed them was an outlet for you, but you had to show up and be Aaron Donald there every day because honestly, most people don't care that you have problems. Most people don't care that you have issues. You got a job to do. And you were able to do that job and with Erica's help and your family's help, you know, you are able to get in a, in a better place. You said you were full, right? And you were complete. And so it was okay to shut them down. Now, being retired, being on the other side, living this life, how full and complete is Aaron Donald today?

• 59:02Speaker 03

  Super complete. I'm happy in a good space. No second guessing, nothing. Ain't like, people always ask you, do you miss it? I'm like, hell no. I'm like, July coming. I ain't gotta get ready for no damn camp. You know what I'm saying? So I'm in a good space, man. I really am. Obviously, just learning a lot more about the business side of things now with my partner, you know, Pat Kevin, the guy I'm learning a lot from. He's my partner already, obviously, you know, was able to, you know, invest into the company in, I want to say 2017, 2018. And, you know, to see the growth where we, where we was to where we at now. And then having conversations with him, you know, and certain things that we got planned and set up right now and the conversations we be having

• 59:43Speaker 03

  things that's coming to fruition, you know, that's what made me like, I can't, like, cause you know, like I always say, like, I ain't working for myself no more. I'm working for my kids. I want to continue to build generational wealth, you know? So, you know, when you look at the Donald name, you know, it's a name that's like, it's respected, not just from football, from sports. But no, I don't want to just leave my kids money. I want to, you know, you know, own something, you know, build something that, that I can leave and leave my kids to continue to build. So I'm excited about the next chapter more than anything. So it's such a great place. Happy, blessed, healthy, you know, get to, you know, lead the game, you know, on my terms, in a good place, in a, in a good space.

• 1:00:26Speaker 03

  Got to experience so much, see so much, accomplish so much in a short amount of time. I'm just happy, blessed, and you know, ready for the next chapter of life.

• 1:00:36Ryan Clark?

  What would it be, Freddie? 2029 will be his year?

• 1:00:38Speaker 03

  2029, baby.

• 1:00:39Ryan Clark?

  What's 2029?

• 1:00:40Speaker 03

  Shit, they should have sent you your jacket right now.

• 1:00:43Channing Crowder?

  At least start sizing him for it. I've heard him talk. He bout to cry in this speech. Oh, he gonna cry for it, for sure.

• 1:00:50Speaker 03

  Baby, I ain't gonna cry. I can't tell him to cry, but I don't know how my emotions gonna be at that time. I ain't never, I ain't never experienced nothing like that, so I don't know.

• 1:00:58Fred Taylor?

  I think you have a duty to, to embrace the city of St. Louis who feels as if they lost a team. Like, I'm sure they feel that this is, that was also their championship, as well as bringing it to LA.

• 1:01:13Speaker 03

  Sure.

• 1:01:13Fred Taylor?

  And, and your speech, um, I mean, you, it's a long ways off, so I don't know if you even thought about any of that.

• 1:01:20Speaker 03

  We got that bitch written already.

• 1:01:21Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:22Ryan Clark?

  Hey, he gonna be like, "Cry here." Cause he gonna be the cry when he wrote it. You already know, he gonna be like, "Cry here."

• 1:01:31Fred Taylor?

  That'll be a good moment, so you locked, you locked in. But, uh, again, your, your biggest pivot. We always ask our guests, what's their biggest pivot in life, which is that moment or moments that, um, without that happening, you wouldn't be the person who you are.

• 1:01:47Speaker 03

  My biggest pivot?

• 1:01:48Ryan Clark?

  It could be life too.

• 1:01:49Fred Taylor?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:50Ryan Clark?

  Cause you ain't really had to pivot in football, you just beat the piss out of people your whole life.

• 1:01:53Speaker 03

  But, I don't know, man, there's a, there's a-

• 1:01:54Fred Taylor?

  It could've been when you, you know, got on your knee without a ring. I mean, you just don't do that.

• 1:01:58Speaker 03

  I was gonna say, I was gonna say my wife, but I didn't wanna be cheesy.

• 1:02:00Ryan Clark?

  That is, you know what I'm saying?

• 1:02:02Fred Taylor?

  That's, that's part of it.

• 1:02:03Channing Crowder?

  Seems like she's attached to a lot of great decisions.

• 1:02:06Speaker 03

  Yeah. Honestly, she is, so, um, obviously I would say my wife, you know, she better me in a lot of ways, you know, cause always been the one that, you know, got to this position and was always the one that, you know, I felt like, you know, you need your, you know, your, your close family, but for the most part, you don't really need, you know, feel like you need nobody, but, you know, that there has a man in my life that I feel like, you know, I need my wife, you know, she's a part of me. She make me a better, you know, husband, a better, a better father, a better businessman, just in my everyday life, she bring something to the table. So for me, it's like, you know, you know, you, you had a lot of good things going on, you know, you, you bring a good piece and a part of you that's, you married that's in your life now and that, you know, you went from this, I'm talking about off the field stuff until like-

• 1:02:52Speaker 03

  You know, it's going that way, you know, so that's why I'm more excited about this, this, this second, this, this next chapter more than anything, because I think it's gonna be, be bigger than what I did in the football world from a financial standpoint, so.

• 1:03:05Ryan Clark?

  That's awesome.

• 1:03:06Speaker 03

  You know, we have a lot of good conversations with a lot of good people. She's there right next to me in these meetings. Sometimes she, she take the lead and I, then she had a conversation with the people and then tell me, this is a conversation we both need to be down to talk to and then we, you bring out the fruition, so I would, I would definitely say my wife when it comes to the, the off the field stuff, but if I had to say a, a big pivot from a football standpoint in, in my football life, I would say going into my 18, my 2018 season, you know, my second holdout year, back to back years, 17 and 18 was holdout years, but getting experience from my second year and understanding the business side of football, not taking it as personal as I did in 17, because it was all new to me, you know, I'm like, shit, if y'all don't want me, just let me go, you know, I, I, I started getting

• 1:03:51Speaker 03

  mad. The second year, it's more, I understand it's a business. Somebody, if somebody can buy something for a hundred dollars and it's, and it costs three hundred dollars, they gonna try to get it for a hundred dollars, but that's a part of the business, so understanding that side and, and figuring things out and having the opportunity to understand, you know, how it is and what I need to do and, you know, my training process changed as far as doing different things out the box, keeping myself in top shape, going and getting myself prepared, knowing how to handle myself to get myself ready for a season and getting, going into a season, not doing no cam for two years back to back and having the year I had and I would have an opportunity to go to a Super Bowl, I would say that, so.

• 1:04:31Ryan Clark?

  You know, James Connor credits you with, uh, building his confidence to be a great running back. I didn't know he played DN.

• 1:04:38Speaker 03

  You ain't know that?

• 1:04:39Ryan Clark?

  No, I didn't know he played rushing.

• 1:04:40Speaker 03

  I call Connor, that's my, that's like my little brother, man. I, I really do love him.

• 1:04:43Ryan Clark?

  He said, he said like in a bowl game though, he was ready to go on the field.

• 1:04:46Speaker 03

  So you know Connor was really a scholarship for defensive end, but his last year in high school, we ended up rushing for a crazy amount of yards and then he had some scholarships for running back and then he went to pick to play running back. And that, his freshman year was my senior year, you know, and he, he had to work at the, he always asked questions, even though I was a deep tackle and he was a running back, he wanted to, whatever extra work you, I'm with you, big bro, I'm with, we, we, then we, we played a bowl game, we played the Little Caesars Bowl in Detroit against Bowling Green.

• 1:05:16Ryan Clark?

  He went crazy though.

• 1:05:17Speaker 03

  Yeah, he went crazy. He rushed for like. Like close to like 300 yards, a couple touchdowns. It had like, and then they put him, I think we were low on numbers on the end. They, they put him out there to rush. He was rushing next to me. He had about like four quarterback hicks, like five quarterback pressures. I think he almost took one of my sacks. So, you know, he ended up, he was out there balling, but man, you know, to see his growth, to understand, you know, I know the body work he put in, the mindset he get, you know, I'd be so proud of him, you know, like, you know, cause that's my, he ain't a friend, that's my brother. That's my little brother. So I, I want to see him succeed. And then he went to come to Arizona. I get to play against him twice a year, you know, so.

• 1:05:57Ryan Clark?

  What was it like when he got sick then, man?

• 1:06:00Speaker 03

  You know, I sent him a message. I was in St. Louis at the time. I remember sending him a message, a heartfelt message, just to let him know that this is just a hiccup in the road, you know? There's a lot of more great things coming your way. A few Pro Bowls later and things like that to see, you know, where he's at now, man.

• 1:06:16Ryan Clark?

  Killed in Arizona, bro.

• 1:06:17Speaker 03

  Yeah, and man, he's still killing it, you know?

• 1:06:21Ryan Clark?

  That was awesome, big dog. Appreciate you, my boy. I'm sorry I bothered you so much, dog.

• 1:06:25Channing Crowder?

  Whenever you want to get fat, just let me know. I'll show you the way.

• 1:06:29Speaker 08

  First of all, with that proposal story, I didn't believe you, but, but that's not why you proposed twice.

• 1:06:36Speaker 03

  Why did I propose?

• 1:06:38Speaker 08

  Just cause, no, just cause you gave, but I heard, we were already like engaged, but you gave me a ring. But you made it seem like, I was like, no, no, no, until I got a ring. I didn't care.

• 1:06:47Speaker 03

  No, no, we was, we was engaged. Yeah, yeah, no choice.

• 1:07:17Speaker 09

  Every game day, you show up for your team. Now it's your time.

• 1:07:28Speaker 10

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