University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt Great Aaron Donald Named NFL Defensive Player of the Year
2/3/2018 10:00:00 PM | Football
MINNEAPOLIS—Pitt defensive line legend Aaron Donald became the first former Panther to be named Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year, it was announced during Saturday evening's NFL Honors event in Minneapolis ahead of Super Bowl LII.
Donald received the prestigious award after a dominating individual defensive season in which he helped the Los Angeles Rams win the 2017 NFC West title with an 11-5 record.
During the 2017 regular season, Donald led all NFL interior defensive linemen with 11.0 sacks and recorded an NFC-leading five forced fumbles, 27 quarterbacks hits and 15 tackles for loss in just 14 games. Most impressively, Donald led the NFL with 91 quarterback pressures—21 more than any other interior defensive lineman and 12 more than any edge rusher in the league.
Donald's run of incredible success started with his historic 2013 senior season at Pitt. That year, Donald totaled 59 total tackles, 28.5 TFLs, 11 sacks, 16 QB hurries, four forced fumbles and a blocked extra point. Donald's efforts in his final campaign with the Panthers resulted in the following honors: unanimous first team All-American, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award, Nagurski Trophy and Outland Trophy.
"Hail to Pitt!," Donald said after NFL Honors. "Pitt is one of the main reasons I'm here. They built and molded me into the man that I am and showed me the way. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to stay in Pittsburgh, where I was born and raised, and play football at a great college. That was what I had dreamed about my whole life. And since being drafted by the Rams… it's been a good ride so far."
Donald, who is from Pittsburgh and attended Penn Hills High School, joined another WPIAL and Pitt all-time great, quarterback Dan Marino, as the only former Panthers to earn one of the NFL's two annual AP Player of the Year recognitions. Marino was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year for the 1984 season.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Donald received the prestigious award after a dominating individual defensive season in which he helped the Los Angeles Rams win the 2017 NFC West title with an 11-5 record.
During the 2017 regular season, Donald led all NFL interior defensive linemen with 11.0 sacks and recorded an NFC-leading five forced fumbles, 27 quarterbacks hits and 15 tackles for loss in just 14 games. Most impressively, Donald led the NFL with 91 quarterback pressures—21 more than any other interior defensive lineman and 12 more than any edge rusher in the league.
In being named the NFL's top defensive player in his fourth professional season, Donald capped a five-year stretch of award-winning defensive dominance as good as any in the history of football.TOP 10 PLAYS of 2017 from @RamsNFL DE and Defensive Player of the Year ... @AaronDonald97! pic.twitter.com/aiG9DjptDf
— NFL (@NFL) February 4, 2018
Donald's run of incredible success started with his historic 2013 senior season at Pitt. That year, Donald totaled 59 total tackles, 28.5 TFLs, 11 sacks, 16 QB hurries, four forced fumbles and a blocked extra point. Donald's efforts in his final campaign with the Panthers resulted in the following honors: unanimous first team All-American, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award, Nagurski Trophy and Outland Trophy.
"Hail to Pitt!," Donald said after NFL Honors. "Pitt is one of the main reasons I'm here. They built and molded me into the man that I am and showed me the way. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to stay in Pittsburgh, where I was born and raised, and play football at a great college. That was what I had dreamed about my whole life. And since being drafted by the Rams… it's been a good ride so far."
Since the Rams picked Donald in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, he has been selected to four consecutive Pro Bowls (2014-17) and been named NFL First Team All-Pro in each of the last three seasons (2015-17). Additionally, he won the 2014 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award."I'm blessed and honored to have this right now." - 2017 Defensive Player of the Year @AaronDonald97#NFLHonors | @NBC | 9 PM PT pic.twitter.com/BAhPInCljd
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) February 4, 2018
Donald, who is from Pittsburgh and attended Penn Hills High School, joined another WPIAL and Pitt all-time great, quarterback Dan Marino, as the only former Panthers to earn one of the NFL's two annual AP Player of the Year recognitions. Marino was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year for the 1984 season.
#H2P | Twitter | Instagram
Pitt Football | Hit the links at the 2026 Pitt Football Alumni Golf Outing!
Tuesday, May 12
Pitt Football | Get an inside look at spring ball, May 8th at 11:30 AM on the ACC Network!
Thursday, May 07
2026 NFL Draft Weekend Recap
Tuesday, May 05
Pitt Football | It runs in the family for Brayland Lovelace.
Thursday, April 30