Aaron Donald reveals reason for retiring after 10 seasons: 'I'm burnt out'

When Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced his retirement, offensive coaches and players across the league took a sigh of relief. Over the span of a decade, Donald established himself as one of the most dominant defensive forces in NFL history. On a weekly basis, he wrecked game plans, humiliated offensive linemen, rag-dolled running backs, and crushed quarterbacks.

Donald initially issued a statement to announce his retirement, but he recently provided insight on the decision in a clip he shared on social media, teasing an upcoming video.

Future Hall of Fame DT Aaron Donald discusses his decision to retire

Donald began by listing off his incredible accomplishments. He made the Pro Bowl in every season of his career, he was named an All-Pro eight times, he was the 2014 NFL Rookie of the Year and he earned three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. He won three division titles and two conference titles. He lost one Super Bowl, and he won one Super Bowl.

"I'm complete, I'm full," Donald said. "I will always love football, but to think about going through another camp and another 17 [game] season, I just don't got the urge to want to push myself to do that no more. I'm just, I'm burnt out, if anything, the best way to say it is that I'm full, I'm complete. I'm satisfied with what I was able to do in 10 years, and I think it's time for me to, at 32 years old, retire from football and jump into the next step in my career, my life, and now it's time to move on."

Football is a game of attrition. Often times, playing the game on Sundays is the easy part. The difficulty comes in the things that aren't seen: the film sessions, the meetings, the training, the long hours of treatment, the rehab, the practices. The season is long and grueling — it starts with days that are too hot and ends with nights that are too cold. Over time, the monotonous grind causes mental and emotional fatigue.

After a decade in the league, the only one thing left for Donald to experience is being fitted for a gold jacket when he gets inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He'll undoubtedly be a first-ballot inductee when he's eligible in 2029.