Aaron Donald was in attendance for the NFC Championship Game on Sunday night when the Los Angeles Rams faced the Seattle Seahawks, but it sounds like he wishes he didn't have to sit back and watch. He wanted to play.
While on the field for pre-game handshakes and pleasantries as the Rams’ honorary captain, Donald says he started to get the jitters again – the same feelings he used to get when he played for the Rams.
On “The Inner Circle” podcast, Donald talked about attending the game and said that if the Rams said he could play the fourth quarter, he probably would have.
“With the anthem, I started to get them emotions again,” he said. “I felt immortal again, right? Like I was playing. I couldn’t stop moving. Start getting them jitters, jumping around. If they would’ve said, ‘Aaron, you can play in this fourth quarter to help close this game out – you’re allowed to play, I probably would’ve went out there and played a little bit, I ain’t going to lie. I was juiced up.”
Anthem hit… AD was DROOLING 😳😤🏈
— The Inner Circle (@Inner_CirclePOD) January 28, 2026
“I wanted to go hit somebody… hands sweaty… butterflies.”
Zach: McVay’s biggest mistake was not asking AD to play the 4th 😂
👇 One series for @aarondonald97 yes or no?
🎧 Full episode out now pic.twitter.com/EpDWxUtaDS
Donald hasn’t played since 2023 but even after sitting out two seasons in retirement, his desire to hit someone on the field hasn’t gone away.
“I wanted to go out there and hit somebody,” he said. “I started about to drool, man. Palms are sweaty, I had the butterflies in my stomach, man. It felt good, though. It was a good experience for me to have the opportunity to do that, to relive that a little bit.”
The Rams could’ve used him against the Seahawks after giving up 31 points and struggling to stop Sam Darnold and Seattle’s offense for most of the night. He would’ve been especially helpful on the Seahawks’ final drive when they killed the clock and just about ended the game.
Donald has expressed no interest in returning but there’s probably still a tiny fire burning in him go out and sack the quarterback again.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Aaron Donald jokes he would've played NFC title game if Rams let him
