Back from ankle injury, Aaron Donald happy to work with kids at 4th annual camp
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Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald had a new topic to talk about during his Living in the Pocket Youth Skills Football Camp on Saturday at Highmark Stadium.
How to recover from an injury.
The Penn Hills and Pitt product is on the mend for the first time in his professional football career. Donald missed seven games because of an ankle injury last season, which is the most games he has missed since entering the league in 2014.
“It’s a process where you have to sit down and be more mentally strong,” Donald said. “The physical part when you first get injured and have surgery, you can’t do much, so to be able to be mentally strong and work my body to where it needs to be now is huge. It’s a long process. We’re here now, and I’m blessed to have the opportunity to play this game and be around these kids today.”
Donald is a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI. During his career, he has 103 sacks and was named first-team All-Pro seven times. Last season, Donald finished with five sacks in 11 games.
The event at Highmark Stadium was the fourth time Donald, through his AD99 Foundation, hosted the camp. Three hundred kids were registered for the event.
Donald patrolled the field as he and other volunteers helped walk the kids through various drills. Brody Thompson, 8, of Columbus, Ohio, won a sprint competition, running with a red-and-white mouth guard in.
“I love the feetwork,” Thompson said. “The feetwork helps your feet get strong. I’ve been to the Aaron Donald Camp for three years already, and I love Aaron Donald.”
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The camp was for boys and girls from age 6 to 18. Donald stressed that the topics for the day went beyond the football field.
“Obviously, football is a sport,” Donald said. “But everything is much bigger than football: work ethic, discipline and teamwork, which are things you need in life, period. It’s big to be around these kids and, obviously, we are talking football and having fun working football, but it’s bigger than sports. We talked about mental health.”
Because of his injury, as well as the Rams missing the playoffs, Donald had a longer offseason than usual. He said he has been trying to use some of the extra time off to spend time with family and focus on recovery.
Working at his football camp gives him an opportunity to show off his personality.
“It’s a fun day,” Donald said. “It’s a day to be around these kids and not just teaching them football but to interact with them, to be able to see me as a person and joking and playing around with them outside. Just being myself, that’s huge.”