Aaron Donald is one of the best defensive players in the game.
The eight-year, Super Bowl-winning Rams defensive tackle has made the Pro Bowl every year in his future Hall of Fame career. That includes seven First-Team All-Pro nods and three Defensive Player of the Year awards.
After winning the Super Bowl this past season, speculation has arisen over Donald’s possible retirement.
While that’s yet to be determined, what’s definite is that Donald wants to be paid. As a result, he’s skipping the team’s OTA until he gets the contract he’s seeking.
But in his quest to get paid, he’ll have a new agency representing him.
Kanye West’s Donda Sports.
While appearing on the I Am Athlete podcast, Donald announced he signed with Donda, West’s fledgling agency.
“[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,” said Donald. “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.”
The family aspect was important to the 31-year-old NFL veteran, as his wife, Erica, handles his marketing. With this new deal, she will continue to contribute in that role.
“My wife actually do my marketing,” said Donald. “It was an opportunity that came to us, me and her, and it made sense.”
But does signing with an agency in its infancy make sense for someone of Aaron Donald’s caliber?
If you base it on West’s overall success and the agency’s vision, it sounds like it might.
“Donda Sports was founded with the vision of providing holistic support to athletes during and beyond their sports career,” said Donda in a statement. “Donda Sports is a limitless organization centered on professional and wellness support in equal measure with the ambition to work with athletes across all genders, divisions, and sports.”
Donda Sports’ first client was Antonio Brown, who helped open the doors for Donda Sports to athletes.
Say what you will about Brown personally, but as a business, he’s definitely booming.
Donald is hoping that the success of West and Brown helps him in the next phase of his career, both on the field and off of it.
