Chris Long: Aaron Donald is the 'best football player in the world'

Coming off back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year awards and leading the NFL in sacks during the 2018 season, there's little doubt Aaron Donald is one of the league's premier players.

The Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle was immediately dominant in the NFL, but former teammate Chris Long saw something special before Donald's rookie campaign even began.

"I would like to credit myself with being the first person to know he was going to be amazing," Long jokingly told Gus Frerotte on the "Huddle Up with Gus" podcast. "When he got to St. Louis, it was very clear that he was going to be special. We used to joke his rookie camp that he was going to be in the Hall of Fame, but I kind of wasn't joking."

Long also called Donald "the best football player in the world."

Donald has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of his five NFL seasons, and he was selected as a First-Team All-Pro in his last four.

Long, who recently retired after 11 seasons, acknowledged Donald's natural talent, but he also credited a stellar work ethic for the 28-year-old's NFL success.

"I've never seen anybody work so hard, who had so much talent and play so violent and play with such tenacity," he said. "This guy would fight you on the field at the drop of a hat, and I respect that about him, and (he) outworks everybody.

"I would be the last person in the film room usually at the end of camp, and I would go in there and watch tape once everybody was at home. I started going in there and opening the door and turning the lights on to find my pen or notebook, and he was in there every night."

- With h/t to TribLIVE