November 10, 2019: As Aaron Donald walked into Heinz Field in front of 63,627 fans that day, the occasion was nothing less than iconic. Getting to play in his hometown field for the first time in six seasons, the defensive tackle promised himself he’d make it worth everybody’s while. And for the most part, it was. Except for teammate Clay Matthews, who didn’t just lose a half-sack but also his claim to a quarter of a million dollars.

“In 2019, when I was playing for the Rams, I had a sack incentive,” Matthews said on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast. “So if I got three sacks it was $250,000, with six sacks it was $500,000, and with eight and a half sacks it was $750,000. I finished the season at eight sacks, and I actually had eight and a half. Aaron Donald reported the sack we shared together. It was like for safety against the Steelers, so they gave it all to him, and I lost 250K.”

The sack Mathews spoke about was from a 2019 regular-season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Rams. In the fourth quarter, the Steelers were pinned deep in their own zone when Donald and Matthews combined for a sack on quarterback Mason Rudolph and brought him down in the end zone for a safety.

Although the Rams suffered a 17-12 loss in that fixture, Aaron Donald managed to turn his half-sack into one while recording four solo tackles and two tackles for loss. Donald also recalled this incident during an appearance on the Inner Circle podcast. And by the looks of it, he wasn’t sad about Matthews’ loss at all.

“I grabbed the safety and I’m taking him down,” Donald said on The Inner Circle Podcast while describing the incident. “But Clay Matthews just dives on top of him. They gave him a half-sack. I’m playing in my hometown city, in the stadium I used to play college. That’s my safety. That’s my sack. How the hell they give me a half? We turned that in. They came back. ‘Aaron, that’s your full sack,’ they told me. I remember Clay Matthew saying, ‘Bro, they took that sack away from me.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, for real? That’s crazy! [laughing]”

Clay did finish the game with one sack to his name, in addition to three tackles, but it wasn’t enough to claim the incentive. Later, the organization confirmed that it wouldn’t be giving the incentive to Mathews.

Incidents like these have been a hallmark of Aaron Donald’s illustrious career, where he likes to enjoy his funny moments, but when it comes to football, there’s no messing around with Number 99.