Puka Nacua had an intimidating first meeting with Aaron Donald

As Aaron Donald is stepping away from the game after 10 incredible seasons, his now-former Rams teammates are reminiscing about their time with the legend.

One of these players is WR Puka Nacua, who became one of the most shocking breakout players of the 2023 season.

Before he became an NFL Pro Bowl wideout, Nacua was just a fifth-round pick coming into the Rams’ building, and that’s how Donald treated him, as Nacua shared on The Rush with Maxx Crosby podcast.

“My first interaction with [Donald] was, I’m in the weight room, the rookies were working out after. I swear he’s already been working out, like we did our run on the field and then we’re coming in to do our lift and this guy’s still working out. Like the Vets have already had their workout, he’s still there,” Nacua recalled about Donald’s legendary work ethic.

“I’m doing like the massage, the little Theraguns by the weights in the middle. The 180s are on the floor by me, he walks up by me, and he’s like ‘Move.’ And I jump, like all he says is move. I jump, move, but I like turned my back to him, so I’m not facing him, no eye contact,” Nacua continued. “I turned away and then he says ‘Move’ again, and then I set the Theragun down walked out of the weight room, and was like I’ll be back. I don’t know what time our lift is at but I don’t need to be here right now. Yeah, it’s AD’s time to lift.

Nacua laughs about this now, but he also says that this interaction — and this year in general — is a little bittersweet because he took being teammates with one of the greatest of all time for granted, and now that Donald is retired that time is over.

Despite the first meeting, Rams will miss Donald’s personality.