Aaron Donald ends his 2 1/2-year retirement and returns to the Los Angeles Rams

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Donald returned to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, ending his retirement after 2 1/2 years to chase another Super Bowl title.

The 35-year-old Donald made his decision after several weeks of discussion and nearly three months of intensive workouts for a star defensive lineman who reigned atop his position in a Rams uniform from 2014 until his retirement in early 2024.

Donald joined a light practice at the Rams’ training complex later Sunday, shaking hands and exchanging hugs with Myles Garrett and the rest of his teammates, both old and new.

While he hasn't decided whether he will play in the Rams' season opener against the 49ers in Australia next month, Donald is eager to complete a comeback that seemed improbable only three months ago.

“Do I feel like I can play at a high level? Yes,” Donald said. “Do I feel like I can still be myself? One hundred percent, and if I didn’t feel like that, I wouldn’t be here.”

Donald agreed to a one-year contract, and ESPN reported he will make at least $20 million in an incentive-laden deal.

Donald became one of the greatest defensive players of his era during a decade spent entirely with the Rams in St. Louis and Los Angeles. He won three AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards while earning 10 Pro Bowl selections, eight All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl ring before he retired somewhat abruptly following the 2023-24 season.

After two years of tending to his business interests and enjoying ample family time, Donald began to entertain the notion of a comeback this summer after the Rams traded young lineman Jared Verse in a deal for Garrett, one of Donald’s few peers in contemporary defensive line play.

“I already thought it was a stacked D-line with Verse ... and then you bring a guy like Myles Garrett, a generational talent, and then it’s like, ‘Gosh, that could be fun,’” Donald said with a grin.

Donald and Garrett have combined to win five of the AP’s past nine Defensive Player of the Year awards, including two of the past three for Garrett with the Cleveland Browns. While Garrett said he wouldn't attempt to influence Donald's decision, the two have exchanged numerous text messages while Donald went through the training necessary to become his teammate.

With MVP Matthew Stafford returning to lead the league's most productive offense, Los Angeles was already the betting favorite in most sportsbooks to win its second Super Bowl title under coach Sean McVay even before Donald’s comeback. Along with Garrett, Los Angeles added cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson from Kansas City to a defense that now looks more equipped to keep pace with the Rams’ offense, which returns every major contributor around Stafford.

“I think this is a complete team with me here or without me here, so for me to even have the opportunity to be a part of this, to be with this team, I take nothing for granted,” Donald said. “It’s a blessing to be retired from the game for two years and then have the opportunity to come back and be a part of something special.”

McVay has seemed confident for weeks that Donald was leaning toward a return. Donald said he finalized his decision to return about two weeks ago after being in almost daily contact with McVay for several weeks.

“He means a lot to me, and it's way bigger than football,” McVay said. “There's a lot of history. There's a lot of experiences that we've shared, a lot of love for each other's families. I'm excited to start this journey.”

Donald stayed in decent shape during his retirement, and he was pleasantly surprised by the way his body responded to its return to NFL-level training. He also says his famed defensive line technique hasn't declined.

“I've been in a football mindset for the last 14 weeks,” Donald said. “If anything, it’s just getting back on the grass and knocking the rust off as far as playing football again, 11 on 11. Work on my eyes, getting the feel for the game, certain reaction things that made me who I am. I put myself in the best position the best way I can with training to get to where I’m at now.”

Donald's 111 career sacks are the Rams' franchise record and the second-most in NFL history among linemen who primarily played on the interior. His ability to generate a pass rush between the tackles is the primary basis of his greatness, but Donald also was a run-stuffer whose agility and technique forced defenses to double-team him regularly, freeing up his teammates to excel.

The decision resets Donald's eligibility clock for his all-but-automatic induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he's much more interested in seizing the strong opportunity to play for a second ring while lining up alongside Garrett and talented young contributors Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Braden Fiske on what should be an opponents' nightmare of a defensive front.

Donald joins a significant group of recent NFL stars who have ended retirements and returned to this punishing sport, including Philip Rivers, Jason Witten, Marshawn Lynch, Rob Gronkowski and Eric Weddle, the safety who came back from 2 1/2 years away and joined Donald on the Rams' short-handed defense for its playoff run to a championship in early 2022.

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Aaron Donald takes the field for practice at the Los Angeles Rams' training complex in Los Angeles, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

Aaron Donald speaks to the media at the Los Angeles Rams' training complex in Los Angeles, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

Aaron Donald takes the field for practice at the Los Angeles Rams' training complex in Los Angeles, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — One person died and about 15 people are missing or unaccounted for after a major flash flood at the Grand Canyon forced evacuations, pushed large boulders into the Colorado River and knocked out the sole water pipeline that serves tourists and residents, the National Park Service said Sunday.

The body of a 46-year-old man was recovered Sunday evening near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River, the park service said without providing additional details. Officials from an Arizona coroner's office were on scene.

The flooding Saturday in Bright Angel Creek, which flows into the river, led to more than 60 people being airlifted from the depths of the canyon. The park service asked anyone with details about hikers or campers still unaccounted for to get in touch. The Arizona Department of Public Safety was helping with additional evacuations Sunday.

The limited potable water supply because of the damaged pipeline means tourists won't be able to stay overnight at lodges and hotels within the park, starting Monday. Year-round residents are being asked to conserve water.

“These measures are crucial for ensuring the safety and sustainability of water resources,” the park said in a statement.

Visiting the Grand Canyon — a crown jewel of the national park system — can be particularly dangerous in the summer because of the risk of flash flooding that accompanies the monsoon, or rainy season. Clear days can give way quickly to thunderstorms and downpours.

Parth Desai was hiking through a narrow passage in Bright Angel Canyon with fellow physicians and a park ranger when heavy rain started falling Saturday.

“We saw the creek flood, waterfalls coming up out of nowhere, boulders, mud, landslides happening everywhere,” he said.

Later, as they made their way toward Phantom Ranch, a colleague shouted “Up, Up, Up, Up!” as a 4-foot (1-meter) debris wall headed toward them and they ran up into a patch of cacti, he said. They were rescued by helicopter late Saturday after making it to the Phantom Ranch area, he said.

Torrents of water wiped out footbridges over the creek and altered the landscape, widening the creek bed and extending an existing river rapid or creating a new one. The flood was a major blow to an enduring effort to modernize the pipeline that serves 6 million visitors a year and roughly 1,600 residents of Grand Canyon Village.

“Heaven help us if the whole thing down there at the bottom has to be reconstructed,” said Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University. “Where are they going to get the money?”

Halting overnight stays at the park because of a lack of water is rare, although the pipeline frequently has failed over the years. While the Grand Canyon has large storage tanks for potable water on the South Rim, they won't be refilled while the pipeline is out of service.

A $208 million rehabilitation of the pipeline and upgrades to the associated water delivery system started in 2023, with the park service calling it a crucial investment to ensure the park can meet the needs of residents and visitors. The project was expected to be completed next year.

Popular tourist spots, including the Bright Angel Campground, the North Kaibab Trail and Phantom Ranch, home to a historic canteen and dormitories, remained closed Sunday. Lodging is still available just outside the park’s South Rim entrance station in Tusayan.

Erica Viola said she and about 50 other hikers at that campground watched the creek rise Saturday and debris start to flow by, including what looked like a bunkhouse. The helicopter ride out cut her adventure short by two days, she said.

About half an inch to 1 inch (1 to 2.5 cm) of rain fell within about 20 minutes on a rocky slope where there’s a steep drop in elevation, said National Weather Service meteorologist Darren McCollum in Flagstaff. The deluge was preceded by two smaller systems that drenched the area hours earlier.

“So when the main storm moved in, torrential rain fell on everything that was already soaked, and that caused all the problems that we're seeing," McCollum said.

The weather service said the flooding happened on the north side of the Grand Canyon, where Bright Angel Creek comes from the North Rim down to the Colorado River, dropping around 6,000 feet (1,828 meters).

More rain and thunderstorms were possible for the area into Monday.

Stengle reported from Dallas. Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles also contributed.

This photo shows Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, after it was hit by heavy flooding a day earlier. (Craig Sanderson via AP)

This photo shows Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, after it was hit by heavy flooding a day earlier. (Craig Sanderson via AP)

Bright Angel Creek near the Phantom Ranger Station in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, is seen after flash flooding from storms, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (Parth Desai via AP)