“My Kidney’s Only Working 20%”: NFL Hall of Famer Relives His Health Nightmare As Warning to Aaron Donald

Aaron Donald has spent this offseason chasing a comeback, but a cautionary voice from the league’s past has entered the conversation. Hall of Famer Cris Carter, no stranger to what the sport can quietly take from a body, opened up about a health scare to offer Donald a sobering warning

“First game, my kidney got lacerated,” Cris Carter said on Fully Loaded Podcast. “My kidney’s only working 20%. … I mean, [the cornerback]hit me in my kidney. It was just that’s happened before. I thought he had like a knife ’cause it’s like, ‘Oh man, that was a sharp pain. I got through the night end up finding out later in the week it almost ended my season. Almost ended my career.

“I end up fighting to come back to play a few games at the end. … I have never been hurt [before], like I missed three games with a high ankle sprain. That was it for 15 years. So these things happen as you get [older], and your body is not callous enough over the last two years, and you’re not walking around with the same mentality as an NFL player.”

Aaron Donald’s injury record shows remarkable durability. He mostly played through pain rather than sitting out. The 2019 back strain, 2021 rib injury, and 2021 knee strain caused zero or minimal missed games. Only the severe November 2022 high-ankle sprain forced him out, ending his season after six games (per Draft Sharks).

However, Donald hasn’t stepped onto an NFL field since 2023. Now, at 35, he’s got a real question to answer: does his body, and more importantly his hunger for the game, still have what it takes to match the bar he set across ten seasons in Los Angeles?

He’s clearly not rushing the answer. Multiple reports suggest a decision that was supposed to land early this week has been delayed to this weekend. The Rams seem content to let him work through it on his own clock rather than push.

Sean McVay remains hopeful for his returns but isn’t pressuring the franchise legend into a decision.

“He’s going through his process,” McVay told reporters Tuesday. “I’m hopeful. I don’t even want to put a timeline on it because what I don’t want to do is rush this.”

The footage everyone’s been passing around online is the kind that shows he clearly didn’t let his frame slip during retirement. Donald looks like he is in shape. His interest in coming back has been known. But whether he’ll be able to deliver while staying healthy is a big question mark. Choosing to go take on double teams snap after snap for a full NFL season is a completely different level of commitment.

At the end of the day, the eye test only tells half the story; the rest is Donald’s call to make.

The post “My Kidney’s Only Working 20%”: NFL Hall of Famer Relives His Health Nightmare As Warning to Aaron Donald appeared first on EssentiallySports.