Aaron Donald goes nuclear, gets ejected from Rams game (video)
Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald went nuclear and earned an ejection from the team’s season opener against the San Francisco 49ers.
In what will go down as the worst NFL matchup — by far — of Week 1 between the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, it turns out even the players didn’t want to be a part of the action anymore.
At least, that’s what it looked like when Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald lost his cool with his team trailing 21-0 midway through the fourth quarter of Monday Night Football and was subsequently ejected.
The former No. 13 overall pick from the 2014 NFL Draft is supposed to be a leader for a franchise that just moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles, but he sure didn’t look the part when an altercation broke out on the field.
Donald moved into the mix, grabbed Niners wide receiver Quinton Patton by the back of the neck and gave his face a good shove, knocking Patton’s helmet off his head.
That quickly earned him an ejection for the personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct, and as if all that poor showing wasn’t enough, Donald topped the whole thing off by removing his own helmet and slamming it into the ground as he was walking off the field.
He also appeared to yell what we’ll just refer to as vague obscenities.
Here's Aaron Donald throwing a temper tantrum after getting ejected pic.twitter.com/k8HZiA9xu9
— Eric Rosenthal (@ericsports) September 13, 2016
Donald was one of five rookies elected to the 2014 NFL Pro Bowl, recording 47 tackles, nine sacks and two forced fumbles in his first season. Last season, he recorded 69 tackles, 11 sacks and a fumble recovery, earning another trip to the Pro Bowl.
The talent is clearly there for this 25-year-old force on the defensive side of the football, but with the Rams being picked apart by Blaine Gabbert and Carlos Hyde in their season opener, frustration set in and got the best of Donald.
Next: 2016 NFL season: Epic season preview
For a team starting Case Keenum at quarterback with no first round draft pick this year, it’s going to be an awfully long season if incidents like this are allowed to continue.