Aaron Donald announces his retirement

[No1TitansFan]

6 hours ago, WG53 said:

Old head?  Bitch I'm 40.

 

If you think longevity has anything to do with White's greatness then you should just close your account. There's nothing you can say that to erase that stupidity.

 

The man had 11 sacks or more in 11/15 seasons. He had 52 sacks in his first 3 nfl seasons.

 

Please go on about how longevity is what made him great instead of being,arguably, the best defensive end of all time.

 

And he played his first 2 year in the USFL, which everyone forgets. If he had come out as a junior which wasn't allowed back then, he'd have had 3 more years at the start of his career and would have had monster numbers by the time he was 30. 

[oldschool]

8 hours ago, abenjami said:

 

As good as Donald was, IMO he still wasn't as good as peak Albert Haynesworth.

 

Now obviously peak Haynesworth didn't last very long, but it was more disruptive than peak Donald.

 

Yup. I said it at the time. Those 2 years of AH were the closest thing I've seen to peak White.

[OILERMAN]

07 and 08 Haynesworth played at all time great level 

[Justafan]

Reggie was one of my favorite players growing up. LT was a great player and was probably the most violent and impactful player I think I've ever watched. Aaron Donald was a complete game wrecker for many years. They were all fun to watch play. Even Haynesworth was awesome while it lasted. That defense was so filthy for a couple of years stretch.  

[nine]

I've never understood the need to label an individual player as "the greatest ever".....especially when comparing players whose careers were  2-3 generations apart.    They all deserve to be recognized equally for their accomplishments.

 

Reggie White is universally recognized as one of the greatest to ever  play the game....period.     

 

For contemporary players like Aaron Donald or JJ Watt to be mentioned in the same breath....the way I see it, just being part of the conversation is a tribute and testament to their greatness, their dedication to their craft, and their commitment to the game as a whole.

 

It's no different than the whole  Brady / Manning / Montana / Brees / Mahomes conversation.  We're talking about some of the most spectacularly talented and incredibly accomplished players in the history of the game;   trying to split hairs as a means of putting one above the rest strikes me as a bit silly and unnecessary.

[Thrill]

JJ Watt and Donald obviously put together way better careers than haynesworth. But those two years for Haynesworth were the most dominant I’ve ever seen from a defensive player. He single handedly won multiple games those years. 

[nine]

In 2007/2008 Haynesworth proved he had the talent and ability to rank alongside names like Reggie White and Aaron Donald as one of the greatest to ever play the game.  
 

But after getting paid in ‘09, Haynesworth showed that he cared only about the money.   He lacked the dedication, passion, and love for the game and the pride and motivation to become truly great.  
 

So instead of being recognized as one of the game’s all time greats, Haynesworth is remembered only for being one of the all-time biggest flops in the history of free agency.    Not because he lacked the talent or ability, but because he simply didn’t care and couldn’t be bothered.  

[IsntLifeFunny]

5 hours ago, oldschool said:

 

Yup. I said it at the time. Those 2 years of AH were the closest thing I've seen to peak White.

I didn't to watch a ton of peak white. I did get to see him with gB quite a bit where he was still a savage. 

 

Those 2 Haynesworth years were just utterly dominant. He was unblockable. 

[IsntLifeFunny]

59 minutes ago, nine said:

I've never understood the need to label an individual player as "the greatest ever".....especially when comparing players whose careers were  2-3 generations apart.    They all deserve to be recognized equally for their accomplishments.

 

Reggie White is universally recognized as one of the greatest to ever  play the game....period.     

 

For contemporary players like Aaron Donald or JJ Watt to be mentioned in the same breath....the way I see it, just being part of the conversation is a tribute and testament to their greatness, their dedication to their craft, and their commitment to the game as a whole.

 

It's no different than the whole  Brady / Manning / Montana / Brees / Mahomes conversation.  We're talking about some of the most spectacularly talented and incredibly accomplished players in the history of the game;   trying to split hairs as a means of putting one above the rest strikes me as a bit silly and unnecessary.

Yep. The only 2 sports where you can say someone is the GOAT is hockey and basketball. 

[IsntLifeFunny]

39 minutes ago, Thrill said:

JJ Watt and Donald obviously put together way better careers than haynesworth. But those two years for Haynesworth were the most dominant I’ve ever seen from a defensive player. He single handedly won multiple games those years. 

I will never forget the play at the GL where timed the snap perfectly. A man that large having the explosion to literally jump over the OL like that is just insane. 

[IsntLifeFunny]

4 minutes ago, nine said:

In 2007/2008 Haynesworth proved he had the talent and ability to rank alongside names like Reggie White and Aaron Donald as one of the greatest to ever play the game.  
 

But after getting paid in ‘09, Haynesworth showed that he cared only about the money.   He lacked the dedication, passion, and love for the game and the pride and motivation to become truly great.  
 

So instead of being recognized as one of the game’s all time greats, Haynesworth is remembered only for being one of the all-time biggest flops in the history of free agency.    Not because he lacked the talent or ability, but because he simply didn’t care and couldn’t be bothered.  

To be fair, you have to know your players...Shanahan wanting him to be a 2 gap DL was one of the dumbest things I can remember in football. You just signed him to 100 million to be a 3 tech pentrating game wrecker and let a new coach tell your top paid player to do something he's never done and doesn't want to do. 

 

It doesn't alleviate him, but I have always wondered how it would have played out if Shanahan wasn't as stubborn as an mule. 

[WG53]

9 hours ago, CaliTitan3518 said:

There you go again citing a stat that references longevity. 15 Seasons=Longevity. You are acting like longevity is a negative thing, 

 

Reggie doesnt become the all time sack leader, a 2x DPOY, or a super bowl champ without longevity. Its not a bad thing, Its not the reason he was great but it is a factor (not the sole factor which you are acting like that is what I am saying ) in becoming arguably the best defensive end of all time. Of course he was dominant early in his career as well. He is still a great and HOF player had he retired after his 8 seasons in Philly. Im not saying he is Frank Gore. 

 

Tom Brady and Jerry Rice probably aren't the GOATs if they didn't have long careers.

 

All right I am done with this topic. Have a good life you old fart. 

 

 

 

Ah I get it. Just purposely obtuse. Got it.

[IsntLifeFunny]

3 minutes ago, WG53 said:

Ah I get it. Just purposely obtuse. Got it.

He easily could have backed away from the longevity argument because of its connotations. He did say he didn't mean like Frank Gore but the conversation had already went sideways at that point. 

[Thrill]

2 hours ago, IsntLifeFunny said:

I will never forget the play at the GL where timed the snap perfectly. A man that large having the explosion to literally jump over the OL like that is just insane. 

Yup. Against the falcons? We played like shit all game and he just willed us to victory.

[No1TitansFan]

The old TC setup where you go all the way around the field and get up close to the individual drills was really great. Watching AH's short area quickness was unreal. He had super ninja like quickness off the ball and he wasn't anticipating because Washburn wouldn't let them run the drill in any sort of rhythm. Not talking about  quick for a 300+ lb individual, but rather insane quick twitch ability for an individual of any size.