Aaron Donald finds himself knocking on the door of NFL history entering Week 17's matchup against the San Francisco 49ers.
With 19.5 sacks on the season, Donald needs 3.5 sacks to break the single-season record of 22.5, which is currently held by Hall of Famer Michael Strahan.
And Strahan, who set the mark on Jan. 6, 2002, is rooting for Donald to establish a new milestone.
"The sack record is fantastic and it's great," Strahan told Sam Farmer and Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. "But I hope Aaron does break it. There have been guys who have gotten close, but I just want it to be a good guy who breaks it. Not some jerk, or some guy who doesn't care about it or take pride in what he does and just kind of luckily rolls through."
When informed of Strahan's high praise, Donald felt flattered.
"Any time you get a Hall of Fame player that even knows my name, you're going to be pumped up about that," Donald said. "So it means a lot coming from a guy like that."
The sack record won't be easy to break, of course, as totaling multiple sacks in a single game isn't as easy as it sounds.
The most recent assault on the record occurred in 2014 when Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston totaled four sacks in Week 17 to finish the season with 22 sacks, a half sack shy of tying the mark and one short of establishing a new record. Former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen also totaled 22 sacks in 2011.
But if there's a player who could make a legitimate push, it would certainly be Donald, who has notched multiple sacks in a single game 14 times on his career, including a four-sack game against the 49ers in Week 7 of the 2018 regular season.
Donald admits setting the record would "mean a lot," but he indicated a team-first mentality over individual accomplishments.
"I'm trying to do my part to help us win," Donald said Thursday, via the Rams' official website. "This is a big game."
