Rams’ Aaron Donald gets Hall of Fame clock thrown into NFL return picture, just as with silly Philip Rivers narrative originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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One day, Aaron Donald will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Everyone knows it, and it frankly shouldn’t really matter to the Los Angeles Rams legend whether that’s in a couple years or a few more after that.
Yet just as when Philip Rivers was returning to the Indianapolis Colts, the ticking clock has become part of the conversation.
A player is eligible to be elected into the Hall of Fame five years after their last snap in the NFL.
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By returning late last season to play for the Colts, Rivers re-set his clock. He’ll have to wait longer for any potential induction.
Donald, if he returns to the Rams as has been rumored, will also re-set his clock after he initially retired following the 2023 season.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio began an article this way on Thursday:
“If/when future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald resets the five-year clock on his induction to zero, he’ll join a team that has nearly zero defensive starters from the last time he played.”
We’re here to say about the first part of that sentence, respectfully, who cares?
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Do we think Donald has spent even a second considering, “Oh shoot, if I come back to play now, my Hall of Fame induction will be further into the future, won’t it?”
These guys are grateful to get into the Hall of Fame, yes. It gives them one final platform to thank everyone who helped them achieve great things.
But if Donald still has the itch to play, and wants to line up next to Myles Garrett, he’s going to do that. The Hall of Fame will be there waiting, not going anywhere, still directly off the highway in Canton, Ohio as it has been for a long time and will be for a long time.
So as the Donald return rumors continue, let’s please stop acting like the Hall of Fame clock is relevant to this decision. It simply isn’t.
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