The Arizona Cardinals have had to deal with Los Angeles Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald for a while. They have faced him twice a year since he entered the league in 2014.
It wasn’t until the end of the 2015 season that the Cardinals really realized how special a player he was going to be.
Appearing on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, Palmer recalled when he and his teammates realized it.
It was in 2015 and the final game the Cardinals would ever play in St. Louis. It was a 27-3 win that improved the Cardinals to 10-2 that year en route to their division title.
Palmer recalled near the end of the game after Donald was seemingly in the backfield in every play, asking his teammates in the huddle to try and block No. 99.
Lyle Sendlein, the team’s center, according to Palmer, responded by saying, “Block him? I can’t even see him!”
Donald finished the game with seven tackles, two for loss, a sack and five quarterback hits. “He was in the backfield every single play,” Palmer said.
After the game, Sendlein came up to Palmer and said, “Man, that 99 (Donald) is for real. Watch out for that guy.”
The rest is, as they say, history.
Donald has played in 12 games against the Cardinals in his career. He has 29 total tackles against them, 15 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 23 quarterback hits and a forced fumble.
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