Patriots Legend Calls Back To Bill Belichick After Aaron Donald Retires

The NFL saw another future Pro Football Hall of Famer retire.

Aaron Donald on Friday announced his retirement after 10 seasons in the league. It came in the same offseason Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox and Matthew Slater announced the end of their NFL careers.

Donald was selected to the Pro Bowl in every season he played in and was an eight-time First-Team All-Pro. The 32-year-old was named Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014 and was named Defensive Player of the Year three times. The Pittsburgh product was integral to the Los Angeles Rams' Super Bowl Bowl LVI win over the Cincinnati Bengals and will go down as one of the most dominant players in NFL history.

New England was well aware of that dominance heading into Super Bowl LIII as a Patriots legend can attest to.

"I can still remember Bill (Belichick) in the meetings before Super Bowl (LIII) saying ... "He will single-handedly destroy the (expletive) game" @AaronDonald97 was a beast."

I can still remember Bill in the meetings before Super Bowl XLIV saying…”he will single-handedly destroy the f%@kin game” @AaronDonald97 was a beast.

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— Devin McCourty (@devinmccourty) March 15, 2024

The Patriots had their hands full with Donald in the notoriously low-scoring Super Bowl. But Donald was held to zero sacks, four tackles, two pressures and only one quarterback hit. It's why McCourty also endorsed former offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It would be a shocker if Donald was not a first-ballot choice, and his departure will be a huge loss for the Rams and the NFL.