Hour 2 - A Dummy Run

The LA Rams officially logged a "tryout" for retired defensive tackle Aaron Donald this week, a move that coach Sean McVay himself called "the best trial that we've ever had." The joke, of course, is that Donald is a surefire Hall of Famer with eight first-team All-Pro selections who retired in March 2024 after a ten-year run. The tryout was a bureaucratic formality — NFL rules require a signed waiver before a retired player can put on a helmet and participate in drills, even informally. McVay explained it was simply "our way of being able to get a workout with him within the parameters of what's necessary."

The Aaron Donald situation: perfunctory or precursor?

The host's word for the tryout is "perfunctory" — a red-tape tango driven by liability concerns rather than any genuine evaluation. Donald wanted to get some football work in at the facility, wanted to wear a helmet, and the league's lawyers required paperwork before that could happen. He also recently hired an agent, which fuels speculation about a possible return. One theory: Donald could sign a mid-season deal, playing roughly half the schedule after skipping training camp and the early part of the year. Another theory: this is all a setup for a Netflix docuseries about his comeback, with the final episode revealing he doesn't actually want to return. Either way, the host is skeptical Dona