The smiles on their faces said more than words ever could.
New Rams defensive end Myles Garrett was asked on Tuesday during his introductory press conference about the rumors flying around the NFL that future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald might come out of retirement to play alongside his friend.
Garrett immediately flashed a wide grin when asked the question and nodded, before his new head coach Sean McVay interjected to answer the question for him.
“If he’s interested, there is an opportunity…” said McVay with a big smile of his own.
That response alone was enough to send football imaginations racing.
Because if the Rams acquiring Garrett already felt like the rich getting richer, then adding Donald to the equation would push the Rams from Super Bowl favorite to perhaps the greatest team of all time.
Donald himself and former teammates have only flamed the fire.
Former teammate Michael Brockets hinted on a podcast that he has inside information of Donald’s thoughts on coming out of retirement and teased it on his own podcast.
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ESPN’s Pat McAfee shared a text exchange with Donald on his show on Tuesday in which Donald admitted the Rams trade for Garrett had him thinking about it.
“Gotta see if that fire can light back up,” said Donald.
“The fire is always in there,” McAfee replied.
Even Donald himself recently posted workout videos accompanied by the song “Ain’t Done” by Blxst and a simple hashtag: #ready.
None of that confirms anything, but it also doesn’t kill the idea entirely.
Even McVay didn’t sound like a coach who was eager to shut that conversation down.
“Aaron’s a guy that I stay really close in touch with, and I know the respect that he has for Myles [Garrett],” said McVay. “Talk to him about the opportunity to be able to bring him on board. If Aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of 35 I bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip.”
Donald walked away from football two years ago, but he never walked away from training. Anyone who has seen his recent workouts understands why teammates and NFL executives around the league aren’t laughing at the possibility of him coming out of retirement.
NFL championships are not won in June, but instead through months of work, growth, sacrifice, and resilience. The Rams may have assembled one of the NFL’s most talented rosters, but hype doesn’t equate to victories.
As the weeks and months move on, Donald will only continue to read the headline of his potential return and wonder if one last run might still be in him.
But according to his former coach and the team’s newest pass rusher there is.
