Aaron Donald always showed up. He didn’t miss a game due to injury until 2022, playing through a high ankle sprain late that season. Even as the Rams struggled, he kept pushing until the coaches had to pull him. In a brutal playoff loss at Green Bay, he battled torn rib cartilage, a pain that fueled the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI run. In that title game, Donald made crucial stops on third- and fourth-down to seal the win. During the 2023 rebuild, he anchored a young defense, insisting the front office bring in players who matched his intensity. Mentoring rookies gave Donald fresh energy in his final season. And off the field, Donald was just as present.
Donald didn’t just show up for the Rams. He showed up for his family. And for his city. When he filmed a high-budget pregame video at SoFi, he spent the breaks making faces at his kids just off camera. And in Pittsburgh, where he grew up, where he still spends time, and where his AD99 Foundation was born, he poured the same effort into his community that he did into film study. The foundation, launched in 2019 by Donald and his wife, Erica, started small, focusing on youth camps, mentorship, access to sports, and education for children in under-resourced neighborhoods. As years went by, it ran free year-round programming across more than 30 states.
And now, Aaron Donald 99 Foundation is expanding with just one vision: to empower youth through education, athletics, and the arts. But he isn’t just expanding in Pittsburgh. In fact, Donald’s non-profit organization is now in Los Angeles as well. After all, the man spent his whole NFL career with the Rams.
On Tuesday, Donald took to his official Instagram handle and announced that the 99 Foundation is expanding in Los Angeles—where he played for nearly a decade. “Pittsburgh raised me. LA embraced me,” the caption reads. “Now we’re giving back to both. The Aaron Donald 99 Foundation is expanding – same mission, greater impact. We’re continuing to empower youth through education, athletics, and the arts – now in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Let’s keep pushing forward together.”
Founded back in 2019 by Aaron and his wife, Erica, the 99 Foundation has been focused on supporting the development of student-athletes. Especially those who are from under-resourced communities. The AD99 Foundation aims to provide education and resources in a safe environment to those in need through youth camps and mentorship programs. “Over the years, we focused on creating a real impact, supporting young people through education, athletics, the arts,” AD said in the video. All the work we do through my foundation is to help the youth, to be the next up to do great things. Be on sports just in life, period. Now we’re expanding the same energy and mission to Los Angeles.”
Recently, Donald stopped by Raising Cane’s restaurant in Burbank, California, to enjoy some chicken fingers. There’s a context to it. Raising Cane recently helped the three-time defensive player of the year with a massive donation to his foundation. We’re talking about $100k in donations, which the AD99 focused on expanding the foundation in Los Angeles.
“Big shoutout to Raising Cane’s and Todd and them for believing in our mission,” the Rams’ legend said when asked how this donation will help AD99. The guy hung up his cleats back in March 2024, and ever since then, he’s been focusing on his foundation along with his wife, saying that the retirement allows him to be “more hands-on” with the foundation.
But amidst his charity work and even though he’s already called it a career, Aaron Donald just got challenged by the Rams’ star. And not any challenge.
Aaron Donald gets a weight-lifting challenge
If there’s anything that Aaron Donald is known for… well, other than for his charity work and being one of the best defensive tackles, then no doubt, it’s weight lifting and his intense workout sessions. Matthew Stafford once recalled an anecdote during his appearance on the New Heights Podcast, where he talked about Donald’s workout session.
It included a Make-A-Wish recipient, Kyle Frazier, Donald performing bicep curls, and Kyle throwing up in a trash can, approximately 30 minutes into the workout. “If you want to be AD, you’ve got to work like AD,” Donald would say.” That’s how the training sessions of the 34-year-old Rams legend looked. But that was during his time with the Rams when his job was all about chaos and muscle. Now?
Well, even though he’s retired from the NFL, Donald just got a challenge from the Rams’ linebacker, Jared Verse. “No, he don’t want that. He’s not ready for that. He’s not ready for that,” Verse said on The Adam Schefter Podcast, throwing some playful jabs at Donald. “That little 500 bench he had. He’s not ready for that. I’ll be moving weight. I’ll be moving weight. Whenever he’s ready for a workout, I’ll be seeing his little Instagram posts, the dumbbell benches. He can get at me whenever he’s ready.”
Even after hanging up his cleats, Donald often posts some clips of his workout on social media. And Verse, who established himself as a promising young LB, believes that he can take him down. Can he? Well, the guy has the build. 6’4” tall and weighing over 250 pounds. But let’s face it—it’s a debate that has no end until and unless we’ve an official competition. Till then, we can just focus on Verse’s playful take on Aaron Donald.
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