The average football fan knows Aaron Donald as a game-wrecking defensive lineman who was arguably the best defensive player in the NFL from 2014-23.
Less remember that he was selected No. 13 overall by the then-St. Louis Rams in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Pittsburgh. Even fewer, and perhaps only Donald, remembers the doubts that were cast upon him as a high school recruit.
Donald is now up for the chance to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. If it wasn’t for then Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt and defensive line coach Mike Gattuso believing in him, though, who knows who Donald would have become as a football player?
“Obviously, being born and raised in Pittsburgh, and getting an opportunity to play at the University of Pittsburgh and getting that call. And a lot of schools didn’t want to give me an opportunity because they considered me an undersized defensive tackle,” Donald recently explained to the media, according to On3. “And just to understand the journey that went through, the body of work that I put in. To be retired now and still receiving accolades from what I did from football, it’s truly a blessing. It was one heck of a stepping stone for me in my career.”
From Penn Hills High School in Pittsburgh, the Panthers took a shot on him as an undersized prospect while some of his only other notable offers were from the likes of Toledo, Akron and Rutgers.
Knowing what we know about Donald now, every school in the country would have sent him an offer. The Panthers believed in him at the time, though, and that belief paid off for both Pitt and Donald.
He was great in four seasons for the Panthers, but Donald was especially special in his All-American year in 2013, notching 59 tackles (43 solo), 29 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, three passes defended and four forced fumbles.
He won the Chuck Bednarik Award as college football’s defensive player of the year as well as the Bronko Nagurski Award, which goes to college football’s most outstanding defensive player.
Donald, of course, went on to have a legendary career with the Rams with the pinnacle being a Super Bowl LVI win. He was also a 10-time Pro Bowler, eight-time All-Pro and three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
All because the Panthers took a chance on a local kid who had some doubts cast upon him.