PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Acting is part of Aaron Donald’s future as the Pitt Hall of Famer and future Pro Football Hall of Famer tells 93.7 The Fan he doesn’t miss football.
Donald joined Pat Bostick during the Panthers Insider Show after learning he was named to the 2025 Pitt Hall of Fame class. An honor Donald said he never could have dreamed of. He said he dreamed big, but not that big.
“To be saying Pitt Hall of Fame,” Donald said Saturday morning with Bostick on 93.7 The Fan. “That’s my stomping ground. This is where I’m born and raised and that’s where my family is at.”
“I worked by ass off to put myself in the position today to do things like this now. It truly is special. It’s emotional and I get to share these moments with my family, my kids.”
Donald he had several people tell him at Penn Hills High School that he should pursue playing Division 2 football. He said he became emotional when then Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt and assistant Greg Gattuso gave him a scholarship.
I don’t know if they, or the NFL, knew what they were unleashing.
Inspired by his father, who would tell him the key to advancing is working when everyone else is asleep, Donald would workout with his dad in their basement, they called it the dungeon. They would go at 4:30 in the morning before school or sometimes when he got home from school before getting to homework.
“I always tell my dad he prepared me to be a pro before we even knew what it was,” Donald said on the Panthers Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan. “He showed me how to do it and I took it and ran with it. It paid off huge for me.”
When he got to Pitt he found as he kept working, the more opportunities presented themselves. He kept working and started to win awards. As he kept working, and pushing to be better, his team also improved.
“I always set goals for myself to do so many special things, but just putting the body of work in and really putting the time in and really working my behind off,” Donald told Bostick on 93.7 The Fan. “I surpassed anything that I thought was possible by putting the body of work in.”
Donald won several conference honors along with national accolades-the Outland Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award and Lombardi Award while at Pitt. Drafted in the first round by the Rams, he was the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He was a three-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year and a Super Bowl champion.
He’s still only 33-years-old, three years younger than Steelers captain Cam Heyward, and was still playing at a high level. Yet Donald is fine not being in the game.
“As far as playing football, I don’t miss it,” Donald said on the Panthers Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan. “I don’t even have the passion or excitement to want to play football. I will always love football, but once you lose the passion, it was time to walk away.”
He misses his teammates and those times in the locker room, but not the game. Today Donald stays busy with his family, now having the ability to attend their events. He’s involved in several businesses including a 38-unit affordable family housing project that will break ground in Wilkinsburg this summer.
Donald is also pursuing acting roles. He has a few things working, but didn’t want to release that just yet.
He said the next big thing for him is September, when he joins some of his hometown school’s greats in the Pitt Hall of Fame.
“I’m excited, can’t wait to come back for the first time and see a game live,” Donald told Bostick on 93.7 The Fan Saturday. “Hail to Pitt. It was my dream school. It truly is special. It means the world to me.”