Aaron Donald Took A Cheap Shot From Justin Britt Then Tried To Settle Things After The Game

Seahawks offensive lineman Justin Britt is listed at 6-foot-6 and 315 pounds, but Rams defensive lineman Aaron Donald—five inches shorter and 35 pounds lighter—was not going to let his opponent’s late shot go unpunished in Sunday’s game.

The beef stew was stirred late in the fourth quarter, when Donald picked up what he thought at the time was a Russell Wilson fumble—it was ruled an incomplete pass—and ran the ball back. He was clearly out of bounds, and the whistle had blown, when Britt delivered a block to his back. Donald went tumbling, but quickly got back up and grabbed Britt’s facemask from behind. One thing to know about Aaron Donald is that he extremely strong and incredibly dense, so it doesn’t matter if the guy who pissed him off is much bigger than him.

Both players received offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties in the Rams’ 36-31 victory. After the game was over, Donald wanted to talk to Britt again and prolong the feud. Before he did that, however, he smartly snapped on his helmet so he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in case the conversation devolved into headbutts. Donald dapped up a couple of teammates and opponents as he made his way across the field, then grasped Britt’s facemask again and wouldn’t let go. Multiple players on both teams had to separate them. Via German network Ran:

That Donald put on his helmet before confronting Britt means that he knew what he was doing. The postgame shoving match doesn’t seem like it’d merit a suspension, since no one even threw any punches, but it’s possible that the NFL dishes out fines, both for Britt’s late shove and Donald’s disrespect for another player’s grill. Rams head coach Sean McVay doesn’t seem too scandalized over it: