Aaron Donald has been one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history over the last decade. His dominance as a pass-rushing defensive tackle hasn’t been seen throughout the league’s rich history.
While Donald’s Hall-of-Fame candidacy is all but a lock, his latest exploits on the practice field have shifted public perception of the star.
In Thursday’s joint practice between the Rams and Bengals, a rematch of Super Bowl LVI of a few months ago, a brawl took place that saw Donald swing two Bengal helmets at opposing players. The action, similar to Myles Garrett’s attack on Mason Rudolph in an NFL game in 2019 has sparked outrage throughout the league, and questions of possible discipline for Donald.
The calls for discipline have been short-lived though. According to reports, the league cannot suspend players for inappropriate acts in practice and it is up to the team to be held responsible for any action taken against Aaron Donald.
The league itself doesn’t have the jurisdiction to be able to levy punishment for a player in practice, as joint practices are only agreed upon by the teams that are participating.
The question of if Donald should be suspended, or disciplined will follow the Rams through the early portion of their title defense season, but it will also shine a light on the CBA as well.
The 2020 CBA Changes everything for Donald
Under the collective bargaining agreement signed in 2020, players cannot be disciplined by the league for actions in practice.
That wasn’t always the case. Terrelle Pryor was suspended for selling memorabilia for free tattoos while at Ohio State in 2011, while Ezekiel Elliott was suspended for assault allegations that were brought up months before he reported to the Cowboys as a rookie in 2016.
So while Donald may be disciplined by the team, the league no longer has any jurisdiction over practice fights that happen.
This is also not the first we’ve heard of the NFL’s inability to offer punishment over the last 24 hours either. Recent Bills-draftee Matt Araiza is now being accused of gang-raping a minor when he was at San Diego State.
Because of the recent CBA, Araiza cannot be disciplined by the league as the event reportedly happened when he was a member of San Diego State.
Aaron Donald’s fight and the allegations against Araiza are not comparable in several ways. They do however both highlight the scope of the league’s powers over players before they come into the league, and while they are practicing for each team.
The Rams have yet to announce discipline, if any at all, will be given to Donald for his part in the joint practice fight. Los Angeles plays their final preseason game of August on Saturday and opens up the NFL season on Thursday, September 8th with a matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
