The Los Angeles Rams are making their second Super Bowl appearance in the last five years, having lost in Super Bowl LIII to the Patriots in 2018. For superstar defensive tackle, a Super Bowl ring is the last thing missing from his Hall of Fame resume, as the three-time Defensive Player of the Year has been the most dominant player on that side of the ball for over a half decade.
The 30-year-old is still playing at an elite level, and while he didn’t take home DPOY honors this year, he was among the top contenders once again as he is annually. For most, they’d expect Donald to play for many more years, but on the NBC pregame show, Rodney Harrison dropped a bombshell less than an hour before kickoff.
Harrison says Donald told him this week that he will seriously consider retiring if he finally checks that Super Bowl title off his NFL to-do list on Sunday night in L.A.
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“He also told me this, if he wins a Super Bowl, there’s a strong possibility that he could walk away from the game and retire,” Harrison said. “…He just talked about wanting to spend more time with his family, and he talked about his body. Said he works really hard on his body year round and he’s achy.”
It would be a shocker but not unprecedented, as we’ve seen some all-time greats retire in their primes rather than continue until they hit the decline or have to deal with serious injuries. The two best examples are Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson, who walked away from the NFL at 31 and 30 years old respectively.