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Donald won't be rooting for Steelers this week
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_52ce944a-8ecb-5509-8f59-7ed0810026aa.html
Aaron Donald has never owned a Terrible Towel. He’s never even attended a Steelers game in person. But the Pittsburgh native cannot tell a lie. He grew up watching his hometown Steelers on television, and rooting hard.
“I’ve been watching Big Ben (Roethlisberger) since I was young and saw him take them to the Super Bowl,” Donald said. “I still consider myself a Steelers fan till we play ’em.”
Well, as the schedule-makers would have it, Roethlisberger’s Steelers are coming to town to play Donald’s Rams this Sunday in a noon kickoff at the Edward Jones Dome.
“It’s gonna be pretty cool,” Donald said. “I’ve got the opportunity to play against ’em, but I’m still gonna go out there and try to win. Do my job and just take it like any other game.”
It may be “any other game” for Donald, but it’s certainly not any other game week. For one, many of Donald’s relatives are coming to St. Louis for Sunday’s affair, undoubtedly with instructions that they can’t root for the Steelers.
For another, Donald has been very much in demand for interviews by the Pittsburgh media. Before he met with St. Louis reporters Tuesday, Julia Faron of the Rams’ media relations department was meeting with him in the locker room going over Donald’s interview itinerary for the week. It looked like a long list.
The soft-spoken Donald even got one of the marquee spots of any game week: the conference call with opposing team reporters. That’s a spot usually reserved for quarterbacks.
“It’s where I’m born and raised,” Donald said. “So it’s expected.”
Donald attended a couple of Steelers practices over the years, not only growing up in Pittsburgh but playing for the Pitt Panthers in college. This past summer, a couple of Steelers rookies showed up at the restaurant Donald opened in Pittsburgh: AD’s Pittsburgh Cafe.
The Steelers and Panthers share the same building and practice field complex on the city’s south side, so Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he saw a lot of Donald over the winter.
“It was the week after the Pro Bowl, and I saw him in the parking lot every morning because he was coming over here to get his work,” Tomlin said. “I saw him just about every morning in February. When a lot of guys are on beaches and vacationing, this guy was getting out of his car at 6:30 in the morning to work out.
“He’s just a ridiculous worker.”
Tomlin and Rams coach Jeff Fisher are on the NFL’s competition committee, so they spend a lot of time together early in the offseason as the committee meets to discuss potential rules changes. During that time, they’ve had some conversations about Donald.
Fisher said Donald is “all about business, and it’s certainly paid off for him.”
Every player in the NFL has talent. But most of the great ones don’t get by on talent alone.
“They do it as a result of hard work and preparation, and dedication and all those coaching cliches,” Fisher said. “That’s what Aaron does. Aaron’s about football. He loves the game, he studies the game, he studies each and every opponent — individual opponent.
“He understands our system. He’s been blessed with that great leverage, strength, and quickness, and he’s taking advantage of it.”
After the Rams made Donald the 13th overall selection of the NFL draft in 2014, defensive line coach Mike Waufle didn’t want to mess with him. At least not at first.
“I didn’t coach him last year,” Waufle said with a straight face. “The first thing I said to him was: ‘Don’t let me screw you up. I’m gonna say a lot of things in this (meeting) room. Don’t listen to me. Just play your game that you did at Pitt. Just let me put you in position.’
“And that’s a fact. I just let him play.”
As Donald got acclimated to the NFL as a rookie, Waufle basically wanted him to just use his natural, God-given talent. This season, Waufle says he’s actually coaching Donald a little bit.
“He’s so talented. He’s so gifted,” Waufle said late in the preseason. “I just like the combination of him and (Michael) Brockers.”
Teammate Robert Quinn, a two-time Pro Bowler himself at defensive end, flatly states that Donald has Hall of Fame potential. Donald is appreciative of such comments but shrugs them off.
“I ain’t done much to earn that yet,” Donald said.
After being named the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year and earning a Pro Bowl berth last season, Donald has shown no signs of a sophomore slump in the early going for 2015.
Besides those early morning workouts at the Pitt facility, Donald broke down a lot of film in the offseason, including some self-scouting. Even in his rookie-of-the-year season, Donald saw some things about his play that he didn’t like.
“I haven’t played my best football yet,” Donald said during training camp. “I’m still waiting to have that game where I have two sacks in one game. I didn’t have that yet.”
Well, he got that out of the way in the season opener, dropping Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson twice en route to earning NFC defensive player of the week honors. He added a half-sack last week in Washington.
Now the challenge is to bring down the player he grew up rooting for, the 6-5, 241-pound Roethlisberger.
“He’s a pretty big guy, but when I get the chance to get him down, I’m gonna try to get him down,” Donald said. “I want to get a sack every week, but you’ve got to get your big boy pads ready because he ain’t gonna go down easy.”
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_52ce944a-8ecb-5509-8f59-7ed0810026aa.html
Aaron Donald has never owned a Terrible Towel. He’s never even attended a Steelers game in person. But the Pittsburgh native cannot tell a lie. He grew up watching his hometown Steelers on television, and rooting hard.
“I’ve been watching Big Ben (Roethlisberger) since I was young and saw him take them to the Super Bowl,” Donald said. “I still consider myself a Steelers fan till we play ’em.”
Well, as the schedule-makers would have it, Roethlisberger’s Steelers are coming to town to play Donald’s Rams this Sunday in a noon kickoff at the Edward Jones Dome.
“It’s gonna be pretty cool,” Donald said. “I’ve got the opportunity to play against ’em, but I’m still gonna go out there and try to win. Do my job and just take it like any other game.”
It may be “any other game” for Donald, but it’s certainly not any other game week. For one, many of Donald’s relatives are coming to St. Louis for Sunday’s affair, undoubtedly with instructions that they can’t root for the Steelers.
For another, Donald has been very much in demand for interviews by the Pittsburgh media. Before he met with St. Louis reporters Tuesday, Julia Faron of the Rams’ media relations department was meeting with him in the locker room going over Donald’s interview itinerary for the week. It looked like a long list.
The soft-spoken Donald even got one of the marquee spots of any game week: the conference call with opposing team reporters. That’s a spot usually reserved for quarterbacks.
“It’s where I’m born and raised,” Donald said. “So it’s expected.”
Donald attended a couple of Steelers practices over the years, not only growing up in Pittsburgh but playing for the Pitt Panthers in college. This past summer, a couple of Steelers rookies showed up at the restaurant Donald opened in Pittsburgh: AD’s Pittsburgh Cafe.
The Steelers and Panthers share the same building and practice field complex on the city’s south side, so Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he saw a lot of Donald over the winter.
“It was the week after the Pro Bowl, and I saw him in the parking lot every morning because he was coming over here to get his work,” Tomlin said. “I saw him just about every morning in February. When a lot of guys are on beaches and vacationing, this guy was getting out of his car at 6:30 in the morning to work out.
“He’s just a ridiculous worker.”
Tomlin and Rams coach Jeff Fisher are on the NFL’s competition committee, so they spend a lot of time together early in the offseason as the committee meets to discuss potential rules changes. During that time, they’ve had some conversations about Donald.
Fisher said Donald is “all about business, and it’s certainly paid off for him.”
Every player in the NFL has talent. But most of the great ones don’t get by on talent alone.
“They do it as a result of hard work and preparation, and dedication and all those coaching cliches,” Fisher said. “That’s what Aaron does. Aaron’s about football. He loves the game, he studies the game, he studies each and every opponent — individual opponent.
“He understands our system. He’s been blessed with that great leverage, strength, and quickness, and he’s taking advantage of it.”
After the Rams made Donald the 13th overall selection of the NFL draft in 2014, defensive line coach Mike Waufle didn’t want to mess with him. At least not at first.
“I didn’t coach him last year,” Waufle said with a straight face. “The first thing I said to him was: ‘Don’t let me screw you up. I’m gonna say a lot of things in this (meeting) room. Don’t listen to me. Just play your game that you did at Pitt. Just let me put you in position.’
“And that’s a fact. I just let him play.”
As Donald got acclimated to the NFL as a rookie, Waufle basically wanted him to just use his natural, God-given talent. This season, Waufle says he’s actually coaching Donald a little bit.
“He’s so talented. He’s so gifted,” Waufle said late in the preseason. “I just like the combination of him and (Michael) Brockers.”
Teammate Robert Quinn, a two-time Pro Bowler himself at defensive end, flatly states that Donald has Hall of Fame potential. Donald is appreciative of such comments but shrugs them off.
“I ain’t done much to earn that yet,” Donald said.
After being named the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year and earning a Pro Bowl berth last season, Donald has shown no signs of a sophomore slump in the early going for 2015.
Besides those early morning workouts at the Pitt facility, Donald broke down a lot of film in the offseason, including some self-scouting. Even in his rookie-of-the-year season, Donald saw some things about his play that he didn’t like.
“I haven’t played my best football yet,” Donald said during training camp. “I’m still waiting to have that game where I have two sacks in one game. I didn’t have that yet.”
Well, he got that out of the way in the season opener, dropping Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson twice en route to earning NFC defensive player of the week honors. He added a half-sack last week in Washington.
Now the challenge is to bring down the player he grew up rooting for, the 6-5, 241-pound Roethlisberger.
“He’s a pretty big guy, but when I get the chance to get him down, I’m gonna try to get him down,” Donald said. “I want to get a sack every week, but you’ve got to get your big boy pads ready because he ain’t gonna go down easy.”
