Aaron Donald Thought He Would Be a RB: 'I Just Ate Myself out of That Position'

Aaron Donald is the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL, and one of the best players to ever play the position, period. 

But it wasn't where he envisioned playing growing up. 

"Back in the day, I thought I was going to be a running back," he told the I Am Athlete podcast. "I just ate myself out that position. Growing up, I always played fullback and I played linebacker. Then I started playing fullback, D-lineman. I thought defensive line was a fat position, so I didn't want to be called a fat guy. That's just how it was. But I felt like I wanted to be a fullback, but I needed to get the ball, I wasn't just a blocking fullback." 

After a Super Bowl title, eight Pro Bowls, seven first-team All-Pro selections, three Defensive Player of the Year awards, already $97.1 million in career earnings and far more to come once he inevitably signs another extension with the Rams, it sure seems as though Donald ended up in the perfect position.