Getty Aaron Donald during the Super Bowl.
The longtime face of the Los Angeles Rams defense, Aaron Donald, has signed a new blockbuster deal during the Super Bowl champions’ offseason.
But it’s not with the Rams.
Instead, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, perennial All-Pro and Pro Bowler – and now the owner of one Super Bowl ring – has inked a new deal with hip-hop star Kanye West.
A.D.’s Newest Deal
Donald is now an official client of Donda Sports, a new marketing agency and line of apparel founded in February by West, a 24-time Grammy winner. He joins free agent wide receiver Antonio Brown, who hooked up with Donda in February, and Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who became a client in March, according to a May 31 report by TMZ.
Donald confirmed the move on May 29 during an episode of former Pro Bowl wideout Brandon Marshall’s “I Am Athlete” podcast. He added that his wife, Erica, had been involved in the process of working with Donda Sports.
“So it was an opportunity,” Donald said. “My wife actually does my marketing; she did a lot of my marketing. (It was) an opportunity that came to us.”
Reasons Behind the Deal
Donald told Marshall that after he and Erica heard the vision for Donda, they were immediately sold.
“[Hearing] the whole spectrum of everything that was going on, what they were going to be bringing, the family atmosphere that they got, for me, it was a no-brainer,” Donald said. “I think it’s a hell of an opportunity to open up a lot of different doors and a lot of different things outside of football that I wanna be involved in. To be a part of that, and be one of the first athletes to be a part of that, it’s pretty dope.”
Before signing Donald, Donda Sports already had one past Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champ on board: free agent wide receiver Antonio Brown, who had struck up a well-publicized relationship with West. In a February 7 Instagram post, Brown revealed that he’d signed on to West’s latest business venture.
“WE THE OWNERS NOW! Donda is about ownership, empowerment, and discovering the next superheroes. This is for the people who counted us out, for everyone who said we can’t — we say WE WILL,” Brown wrote.
Brown, 33, added he holds a title with Donda: president.
And then he laid out his vision:
“As President, it was important to me to book the Donda Suite for this years SUPER BOWL LVI. This is a game meant to be watched together. This is the love and unity we need to push. THIS IS FOR THE KIDS, OUR NEXT GENERATION!!!” Brown wrote.
He added that there would be community events inviting kids, concluding that the vision is set to be “a family affair.”
Brown, meanwhile, is still without an NFL home. However, during a May 28 appearance on a Fan Controlled Football broadcast, he told Fubo Sports reporter Charly Arnolt that he was not expecting to suit up for any NFL team this coming season.
“Nah,” he told Arnolt, “Don’t play yourself looking (for) me to play.”
.@AB84 interview with @CharlyOnTV
Discusses his music career, playing football next season, and all things FCF
Donald, meanwhile, who wants a contract extension from the Rams, has still yet to appear in the Rams’ May offseason workouts at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks. He did, however, almost appear in a rap video by West.
“Was at one of his video shoots,” Donald said. “He actually wanted me to get in one of the videos, but I was like, ‘Nah.’ I was out of my element. But he was cool. He seemed cool. Real cool guy.”
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Rams’ Aaron Donald Signs Major New Deal: ‘Hell of an Opportunity’