ST. LOUIS — Aaron Donald, who was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2014 and became one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history, announced his retirement Friday after a 10-year career.
Donald, 32, was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2014 and the runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year in 2015 in his two years as a member of the St. Louis Rams. Donald remained with the team when they moved to Los Angeles, and won three Defensive Player of the Year awards and a Super Bowl in the last eight years of his career.
Lawrence Taylor and J.J. Watt are the only other players to win the Defensive Player of the Year award three times.
In his retirement announcement, Donald thanked the city of St. Louis.
"I would like to thank St. Louis for the love and support during my first two years in the league as a St. Louis Ram, and through my eight years as a Los Angeles Ram," he said in the announcement.
Only one player is now left on the Rams’ roster who also played in St. Louis: Rob Havenstein, who is still the Rams’ starting right tackle.
Donald was slated to make over $34 million this season under the terms of a contract that was renegotiated nearly two years ago. Although Donald had reportedly flirted with retirement for the past two seasons in private, the Rams and Donald hadn't publicly acknowledged his departure was a real possibility.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.