Aaron Donald: 'Force of nature' who never lost his humility

The passage of time has blurred the truth.

DeWayne Brown, who has trained Aaron Donald for the past 13 years, said his protege wasn’t wearing cleats the day he was “killing people” in one-on-one drills at a Pitt camp during summer 2008.

Greg Gattuso, the defensive line coach largely responsible for recruiting him to Pitt, said someone found a pair of cleats for Donald somewhere in the locker room.

“I’m not even sure where the heck we got cleats for him. He did get some cleats,” Gattuso said.

The truth in this case doesn’t matter.

Said Gattuso: “He didn’t need any cleats.”

So began Donald’s journey from a relatively obscure Penn Hills player to a freshman Pitt coaches couldn’t keep off the field to a first-round draft choice to three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and, finally, to tearfully grateful Super Bowl hero.

Gattuso was among the millions worldwide who watched Donald lead the Los Angeles Rams to a 23-20 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in Super Bowl LVI.

Gattuso wanted to make sure he saw the game in great detail — how often do you coach a player who lands in the Super Bowl? — so he made a special purchase prior to the game.

“I literally went out and bought an 85-inch television to watch him play,” said Gattuso, now the head coach at Albany.

Perhaps ultimate credit for tipping off Gattuso should go to John Peterman, the Penn Hills athletic director at the time, who had been relaying Donald’s achievements to Gattuso.

Curious, Gattuso went to Penn Hills one night to watch the Indians play Kiski Area and, actually, to scout Donald’s teammate, linebacker Dan Mason, who also ended up at Pitt. The final score doesn’t matter — Penn Hills won 37-12 — but Donald turned into the main attraction.

“Aaron was dominating the line of scrimmage,” Gattuso said. “His AD had been telling me about him, that he was an up-and-comer, but I hadn’t seen him. That was my first encounter with him. He was just destroying the other team. It just jumped out at you.”

Gattuso called coach Dave Wannstedt that night.

“He asked me how Danny did. He was great, but Aaron Donald was ridiculous,” Gattuso said. “We offered pretty much that night with him. He was a dominating, explosive, creating-chaos guy even then. He fit in the mold of what we were trying to be.”

“You’ve got to credit Dave Wannstedt because he was the one who gave him a chance,” Brown said.

Donald reminded Gattuso of Mick Williams, a Monessen graduate who preceded Donald on Pitt’s defensive line.

Like Donald, Williams didn’t have the height most college coaches were seeking on the defensive line — both men stand about 6-foot-1 — but they made plays.

“I always tell people Mick Williams was Aaron Donald before Aaron Donald,” Gattuso said. “He was the same kind of player. He was explosive and athletic.”

Williams shared Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors with teammate Greg Romeus in 2009. Donald won the same honor in the ACC — and every other appropriate collegiate award — in 2013.

“(Williams) had a lot of similar qualities,” Gattuso said. “When I saw Aaron, I thought he was a perfect replacement for Mick Williams. That’s why I liked him so much.”

Pitt never has had a problem with shorter defensive linemen. Calijah Kancey was named a third-team All-American last season as a 6-foot defensive tackle.

“That story is relevant because you kind of look for the 6-3, 6-4 guys,” Gattuso said. “A lot of people went by Aaron because they didn’t like his height. They didn’t think he was going to be big enough.

“We never were a giant defensive line. We were more fast and athletic. We wanted to create chaos in the backfield and be able to rush the passer. We had some guys who were a little undersized, and Aaron was one of those.”

When Donald reported for his freshman season of 2010, Gattuso quickly realized there was no need to redshirt him.

“Coach asked me, and I just told him, ‘This kid is ready to play.’

“He was mature. He’s very smart. He understands what’s going on around him. His power was always there. I’ve seen him in the weight room. I’ve seen him in camps. Obviously, in practice. You saw it on the next-to-last play of the (Super Bowl). He just melts the offensive lineman and makes the tackle and forces that fourth-and-1. He did it all by himself.”

Nothing against Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp, but Gattuso would have voted for Donald. Votes probably were cast before the final series.

“I was really disappointed he didn’t get the MVP. I don’t know how he didn’t. No disrespect to the other players, he dominates games and he draws so much attention that it frees other people up to play,” Gattuso said. “Those last two plays of the game were critical moments, and he rose up and made the plays. They should have ripped up (the MVP vote) and gave it to him.”

Gattuso was struck by Donald’s remark in his postgame interview on ESPN that what he really wanted to do was take his daughter away from the cameras so she could do what she wanted to do — play in the confetti.

That side of Donald did not surprise Gattuso. Donald spent an hour one offseason talking to the Albany defensive linemen via zoom.

“It was kind of cool to see him in that big moment of his life,” he said. “He’s always been a really good person. I recruited him for a year and a half and coached him for a year. He doesn’t seem to have changed a lot.

“For a guy who’s a force of nature, it’s nice to see he’s kept his humility.”