There is a promise to keep.
Three years ago, Aaron Donald told Jaeda, his 5-year old daughter, she would get to play in the confetti after the Rams won the Super Bowl. Confetti did fall inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta the night of Feb. 3, 2019, but it was the Patriots who basked in it. There was no party time for Aaron or Jaeda Donald after the Rams lost 13-3 in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl of all time.
“She always asks me, ‘Remember Daddy, you said I could play in the confetti when we win the Super Bowl, you gotta win the Super Bowl,’ ’’ Aaron Donald said this week. “That’s stuff, memories that last forever. Being able to share that with your family, with your kids, that’s special.”
Jaeda is now 8 and the only way she does not get to play in the confetti Sunday night at SoFi Stadium is if the Bengals upset the Rams in Super Bowl 2022.
This is all there is left for Donald to achieve in a career that will take him to enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot, no questions asked, five years after he steps away from the game and becomes eligible. Only the elite of the elite are in the “best-ever’’ discussion and Donald belongs without even the hint of a debate.
Donald has been named Defensive Player of the Year three times in his eight years in the NFL. He is an eight-time Pro Bowler and a seven-time All-Pro. He arrived to the Rams in 2014 and promptly won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He was named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team. He has 98 career sacks in 127 games.
You name it, Donald has done it or won it. Except, well, yeah, the confetti deal.
“In eight years I accomplished a lot in a short amount of time and one thing I feel like I’m lacking is being a world champion, so it would mean a lot to me,’’ Donald said. “I feel it would be a goal that I’ve been chasing and trying to accomplish. I’ll be able to check that off and feel like there’s nothing in this league I didn’t accomplish.’’
This quest is the reason why Donald pointed to his ring finger during the NFC Championship game. The Rams came back from a 17-7 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the 49ers, 20-17, snapping a six-game losing streak to their NFC West rivals. Donald, usually not the most vocal player, exhorted his teammates on the sideline as the comeback took hold and then reminded them of the goal as he waved his hand and pointed to the spot where he was missing a piece of jewelry that cannot be bought and must be earned.
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“When that happened it was just off of emotion, a lot of emotions running through you, excitement,’’ Donald said. “The ultimate goal is to be playing in this game. That’s what you work for, this is what I’ve been itching to get back to and having an opportunity to try and win one.’’
Donald menaced his way to career-highs in sacks (20.5) and tackles for loss (25) during the 2018 season and the Rams stifled Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. The Rams, with Jared Goff at quarterback, however, could not score a touchdown and lost, devastating Donald.
This time around, he has Matthew Stafford directing the offense and the Rams expect to find the end zone several times against the Bengals, who head west with a suspect offensive line that could be ravaged by Donald and his mates.
This is Stafford’s first year with the Rams. Donald is a long-hauler all the way back to the days the franchise was based in St. Louis and what he has given to the cause is undeniable. This is why so many around him go into this weekend with a dual purpose: Win it for themselves and win one for Aaron Donald.
“This building wants to win for Aaron Donald, to create more for his legacy and what he’s done,” defensive coordinator Raheem Morris said. “Our people in PR, community relations, the football office, ops, everything that we have, the training room, his players, his brothers — we want to win for Aaron Donald.”
Donald has heard this and it moves him.
“That means a lot,’’ he said. “Words can’t express the way that feels, hearing it from my teammates, definitely your brothers. You’re doing everything in your power to help the team win, to help them win and for them to feel they’re trying to help me accomplish something, that’s huge, man. It’s a blessing my guys got that much love for me to try to do that. We’re trying to win this not just for me, for all of us.’’
If it happens, they all get to play in the confetti.