Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald grew up in Pittsburgh. He was a Steelers fan. His family was full of Steelers fans. He played college football at Pitt, which shares a stadium and practice facility with the Steelers.
Donald’s Rams host the Steelers for the first time in Los Angeles on Sunday. He was asked Thursday if he had any feelings about playing for the Steelers for the third time in his career.
“Not really,” Donald told reporters. “I was just talking to my dad like last week about playing the Steelers this week. He was asking me, ‘You get to play town, how does that feel?’ I was like, ‘My freshman year.’” [in 2015]I was excited about that. Obviously back to Pittsburgh [in 2019]It was exciting, but now it’s great to play against the team I grew up watching and all that, but it’s just another week. [I] You want to find a way to be successful, try to find a way to win this game but there’s no extra excitement this time playing against the Steelers, just another week.
There has to be a little extra excitement. Donald has never beaten the Steelers. He played well in both games, getting a sack in each and earning a safety for the Rams during a 2019 game at Pittsburgh.
“We all grew up big Steelers fans,” Donald said of his family. “I still consider myself a Steelers fan, until we get to play them. I’m still looking forward to seeing if they do well. I was still a Steelers fan until we were able to play against them. So the whole family is still a Steelers fan, but now there’s More Rams fans but this is pretty cool.
Donald still sees a lot of Steelers players in the offseason, while Donald works at the Pitt facility. He said he sees Steelers players working out during the offseason.
“I see these guys a lot. [I] Watch Coach Tomlin there. So, yeah, it’s pretty cool.
Even if he doesn’t admit it, it adds something extra. They play once every four years. This would likely be the last time he played as a member of the Rams.
After Super Bowl LVI, when Donald was considering retirement, there was a belief in league circles that Donald wanted to return to the Pittsburgh perimeter at some point in his career. He was asked Thursday if he could see himself finishing his career with the Steelers.
“Not really,” Donald said. “I would never think about it. I never thought about it, but no, no.”
So he never thought about playing in Pittsburgh during all those offseason months in Pittsburgh, where he was regularly working out near Steelers players? He never thought about playing for the Steelers, when his family is full of Steelers players?
fine. He never thought about it. Lots of others have. Whether it’s the Steelers or another team near Pittsburgh, there’s been a feeling ever since Donald earned his only Super Bowl ring that, in time, he could play near his hometown.
If it is not in it.
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