GIVE ’N’ TACKLE
Sunday marks Donald’s first game at Heinz Field since his days at Pitt. That doesn’t mean the Penn Hills native hasn’t taken his hometown along on his rise to NFL super-stardom
Big sister was crying her eyes out, tears of joy, as she walked through the hallway with her younger brother, Aaron, and his two children.
The extended Donald family was there for the dedication of the Aaron Donald Performance Center for the Pitt football program in mid-June, a day for the youngest of three siblings to be feted by his alma mater, the one to which he had made a seven-figure gift at the age of 27. So you can only imagine the emotions that rushed over Akita Donald when the quiet, pudgy kid she grew up with in the LincolnLemington-Belmar neighborhood made his largest, but not his newest, investment in his hometown.
“I was just taken back. I’m just so proud of my brother. So, so, so proud,” Akita said. The baby, Akita still calls him, now is a
National Football League and the sports world. Aaron Donald’s rise from Penn Hills High School to Pitt to the St. Louis-turned-Los Angeles Rams has been well documented, but the latest scene will unfold Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field, when the reigning back-to-back NFL defensive player of the year gets to suit up in his city for the first time since his college days.
That’s big, but the full scope of Donald’s return home is bigger. It started Friday night with a fundraiser for his burgeoning project, the AD99 Solutions Foundation, will continue with a tailgate party outside the stadium before the game, then culminate with Steelers-Rams at 4:25 p.m., all on his mother’s birthday. But Donald and those close to him hope this weekend will hardly be the end of his impact in Pittsburgh.
“Don’t mention retirement to him. At all,” Akita said of her youngest brother, who just turned 28 in May. She chuckles, then turns serious. “But he’s been talking about legacy. The more that I’m talking to him and the more socially conscious that he’s become, ultimately, he’s talking about leaving an imprint.”
‘You respect that’
It’s a dead giveaway that Aaron Donald is one of Pittsburgh’s favorite sons. When he discusses the team he’ll line up against this weekend, his accent says “Stillers,” not Steelers.
In 2015, his second year in the NFL, the Steelers slugged their way to a 12-6 win at St. Louis, where Donald had four tackles, three tackles for a loss and a sack. But now he’ll be back at Heinz Field, where he first started forging his legend, blossoming into the most decorated defensive player in college football as a senior in 2013.
“It’s going to be huge. I’m just going to take it all in and enjoy the moment,” Donald said Nov. 1 at Pitt headquarters, in the same workout facility that now bears his name. The Steelers were preparing to face the Colts, so they couldn’t look ahead, but with the Rams on their off week, Donald could.
“I feel like they don’t have the record they want, but they’re still a good team,” Donald said. “I know they’ve got a lot of great talent over there.”
The Steelers have been singing the same praises of Donald all week. Some of them have been with the franchise dating to the early years of this decade, when Donald was setting records at Pitt, right next door. Since facing him four seasons ago, he has ascended from defensive rookie of the year to two-time league MVP on that side of the ball, never missing a Pro Bowl and racking up four All-Pro nods.
“He’s athletic, strong, talented, but I think his best attribute is just how smart he is as a football player,” said right guard David DeCastro. “You watch it on tape and you play against him, you respect that. … Luckily, we don’t see him too often. He’s a tremendous talent.”
Actually, the Steelers see Donald every day. It’s the Pitt players who train inside the Aaron Donald Performance Center, but the Steelers practice field is right next to it, given that the two teams share UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
Akita Donald thought about that the day the signage was unveiled, and turned to her famous brother.
“Dammit, Aaron,” she told him, “the Steelers are going to walk past your name!”
But there are no hard feelings on either side of the equation. Donald was drafted 13th overall in 2014, two spots ahead of the Steelers, who took Ryan Shazier. Linebacker Mark Barron, who played five seasons for the Rams before joining the Steelers this offseason, has noticed Donald’s permanent presence on the South Side but doesn’t mind it. In fact, Barron said he loves to see examples of colleagues paying back their alma maters and isn’t surprised at all that his former teammate looms over their practices, in a way.
“Obviously, he has the talent, but, on top of that, he has the work ethic,” Barron said. “And he does it every day he comes to work. He puts that same level of work in. The weight room with him is never a day off. It’s always the same level, every single day.”
It’s an appreciation that most, if not all, fellow pro football players have for Donald. As Barron puts it, “You see his highlights everywhere; people know who Aaron Donald is.”
That goes double for defensive lineman Cam Heyward, the closest thing the Steelers have to Donald, but, in the words of Mike Tomlin, “I don’t know that anybody is that guy for anybody; I think Aaron Donald is Aaron Donald.”
Heyward, though, in addition to playing the same position, marvels at what Donald does off the field. It’s been more than four years since the Steelers defensive captain launched his own foundation, The Heyward House, which works with children in his adopted city in addition to other charity arms, including back home in Atlanta in honor of his father. Craig “Ironhead” Heyward and Donald share an alma mater. Cam Heyward and Donald share a love for Pittsburgh.
“Just proud of the dude,” Heyward said of Donald, who spends his offseasons in Pittsburgh and often bumps into Steelers when he trains on the Pitt side of the facility. “Just because you’re in L.A., you kind of do have an excuse for not giving back, but he continues to keep doing it.
Being the bridge
”When Donald came home this past offseason, after playing in his first Super Bowl — a loss to the New England Patriots — he approached his longtime personal trainer, DeWayne Brown, and told him he wants to make a difference in his community.
While it might be turning into his main objective outside of his day job, Donald’s desire to hold true to his roots is nothing new. Despite living in the Avonworth School District now, he stays close to Penn Hills, whether it’s donating apparel or still attending football games when he’s here. In June, his philanthropy was the reason for him and his family being at the Pitt football building, an unprecedented financial commitment by a former Panthers letterman. Now, he wants to expand his ability to give back, to make good use of the $135 million contract he signed last summer, not to mention his various endorsement deals.
“A lot of people don’t have parents that put them in certain situations to live out a dream,” said Donald, who’s always sure to note that he’s living his, and then some.
That’s where his organization comes in. Donald went to Brown, founder of 2/10ths Speed & Agility, for the vision, and made Akita executive director. Since startup in the summer, they have an initial cohort of five high school students with a model that consists of academics, mentorship and, naturally, a sports component.
The teenagers are getting tutoring help for ACT and SAT prep, and outside the classroom, they’re able to train with Brown and 2/ 10ths, courtesy of scholarships through the foundation. Once football season ends, the plan is to match them with mentors from their communities, so they can learn firsthand about the business world, entrepreneurship or other careers that might interest them.
A second piece of the program will deal with individual case management. Akita Donald is a mental-health therapist with a master’s degree in professional counseling, in addition to her own private practice. Through her brother’s nonprofit, she wants to connect with kids to find out what, specifically, each one might need to succeed. Is food scarce in the house? Is there an immediate need that can be met? Or do they need to be linked with certain services?
“A lot of the kids in the disenfranchised communities simply lack opportunities and resources, right?” Akita asks, citing neighborhoods such as Homewood, Lincoln Place and the North Side. “So if you give them those things, they’re going to be no different than the ones from Fox Chapel and the North Hills. They’re going to excel.”
Donald’s mantra has long been “hard work pays off,” but he’s never pretended to be self-made. The whole idea of his most recent venture is to take care of others, to provide them a support system.
“One of the things Aaron talks about over and over and over, is you don’t become the best by going about it independently,” Akita said. “Absolutely, you have to have that drive, that hunger, but you have to have a really solid team, whatever that might be. I just think that’s really necessary for these kids to get to where they want to go.”
The mission is for AD99 Solutions to be the bridge to success. In June, they kicked off the foundation with a free summer football camp, which brought more than 200 children to Penn Hills, where they received instruction from the NFL’s leading sack machine himself and went home with some new gear.
That will be back next year, as will a youth sports workshop and a cleats drive. But first, there’s the matter of Donald’s football homecoming, which is also the “rollout weekend” for his foundation. From noon to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, at the Great Lawn on North Shore Drive, across from Heinz Field, will be a familyfriendly tailgate with pizza, prizes and refreshments. And you don’t need to wear an Aaron Donald jersey or any other Rams paraphernalia to stop by; Steelers fans are more than welcome.
“Are you kidding me? Absolutely. We’re still Steelers fans,” Akita Donald said. “During a Rams-Steelers game, it’s Rams, hands down, but do I love the Steelers? Absolutely. Do I watch their games? Yes. Full support — just not this weekend.”
One of their own
Local Steelers fans can confidently feel the same way about Donald. He has done nothing but instill pride in and show generosity to those who helped him go from undersized, underthe-radar recruit to superstardom, racking up football accolades as well as bigname brand partnerships.
Just last week when he was hanging out with family, they were watching TV when one of Donald’s commercials came on. He playfully repeated his lines along with it, much to the delight of his 6-year-old and 3-yearold. Last month, he made a cameo on “Magnum P.I.” on CBS.
“He’s just enjoying it,” Akita said. “And yes, it’s not necessarily Aaron’s personality, because he’s super low-key.”
For his part, Donald claims he hasn’t had to compromise his humility. Regular old Aaron from Penn Hills and Pitt is just fine for Pepsi and Pizza Hut. “They want you to be yourself,” Donald said. “You don’t want to be nobody else. I can’t be nobody else. I’m just Aaron, you know? The same guy I’ve been since Day 1.”
Well, maybe not entirely …
“You know, when he was a kid, Aaron wouldn’t talk,” his sister laughed. “It’s just not him, so it’s him evolving, realizing he has to talk. He’s come a long way.”
But he still wants to go much, much further. Donald is quick to acknowledge that while his foundation is using football as a jumpingoff point, it’s not always about sports. He hopes it can aid underprivileged children who want to become teachers, doctors or anything else they aspire to be.
Akita Donald calls Aaron “a good leader,” especially for the oldest of her three kids. Elliot Donald is a star junior lineman at Central Catholic High School, with scholarship offers from the likes of LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and Pitt. So, she still has plenty of football left in her life, but more than anything right now, she wants to see her favorite NFL player win the big one.
“Aaron works really, really hard, and he wants that Super Bowl ring. And I want that for him,” she said. “He came so close. He wants it, and he’s so hungry for it, so right now, living in this moment and seeing him professionally and personally, I love this. I love the Aaron he is now. I love the man he’s become. But I cannot wait until he has that ring.”
In the meantime, she’ll keep working with him on turning AD99 Solutions into a labor of love that can “change the trajectory of Pittsburgh’s youth,” as is written in its mission statement. She’ll continue to watch him be a father to his two children, Jaeda and Aaron Jr. If you live in Avonworth, you might even see him picking up his daughter from school.
“He’s still a dad. I tell people all the time, everything you do, he does. Literally,” Akita joked. “So, yeah, he’s going to get in line to get his daughter, take them out to Kennywood, do all that stuff.”
Donald bench-presses 500 pounds and is tied for the NFL lead with 11 tackles for a loss, so he’s more of an abnormal human who does everyday things. Or maybe he’s an average Joe who does otherworldly things.
“When people are talking about him, I’m like, ‘He’s just my brother,’ ” said Akita, the oldest out of her, Archie Jr. and Aaron. “Yes, he’s amazing, but he’s just my brother. It just really hits me — it’s beautiful to see him being recognized, and be recognized in the city that he adores so, so much, so it’s just really indescribable, honestly. I’m all about community, and just to see my brother really investing in that in all regards … it’s overwhelming.”
Overwhelming. That’s probably a good way to describe Donald’s dominance, his accomplishments, his story to this point. And what Sunday will be like, for him and many others.
“I get to work with a lot of kids. A lot of them, they see you and get big-eyed,” Donald said. “But you just be yourself, you joke around and have fun with them, and they see that you’re a normal person. So anytime I get the opportunity, like how I’m always back in Pittsburgh working, or just spending time with my kids, that’s big to me. That means everything. It’s memories.”