Teams all across the league rejoiced when defensive lineman Aaron Donald announced his retirement earlier this offseason. Donald became maybe the best defensive player in league history during his ten seasons with the Rams. He won a Super Bowl, made ten Pro Bowls, and was selected to the First Team All-Pro eight times. Teams are ecstatic to see him go, and that much is clear.
Among those clubs is the New Orleans Saints, who have a history in the NFC with Aaron Donald. It turns out that Aaron Donald did not necessarily enjoy playing in New Orleans, and the Saints were never overjoyed to see Donald lined up on the opposing side of the ball.
Donald spoke on a recent episode of Chris Long’s podcast, Green Light, where he talked about a variety of subjects. Long questioned Donald about a few topics, including which club always had a solid strategy against him. Donald mentioned the New Orleans Saints, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
Aaron Donald attributes the Saints’ strategy against him.
During his early career, Donald revealed, New Orleans would consistently slide the protection to him, causing the tackle to his side to squeeze down in an attempt to get a hand on him. The eventual Hall of Fame defensive lineman then had a very crowded rush lane.
Throughout his career, Aaron Donald has faced the Saints seven times in total—six during the regular season and one during the postseason. The teams split their six meetings during the regular season, with Donald only recording two sacks, 17 tackles, nine for a loss, one forced fumble, and nine quarterback hits.
Donald only played in one playoff game, the notorious NFC Championship game where he was called for pass interference against New Orleans. After winning that game in overtime, the Rams advanced to the Super Bowl. The Saints won’t have to worry about teams led by Aaron Donald standing in the way of a Super Bowl now.