From a Detroit sports writer.
Ten tips for Ndamukong Suh
My guess is Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is playing his way out of Detroit. I have no inside information. I have no inside sources. That is just a guess on my part based on covering the Lions for all these years.
He remains a phenomenal football player and I love that he is a beast on the field. But all the stuff after the whistle is wearing on the organization. He is likely to be fined or suspended for another cheap shot by the NFL this week. I’ve heard debates back and forth whether he kicked Houston quarterback Matt Schaub in the groin Thanksgiving. I’ve seen the replay several times and in my mind he took another cheap shot.
Last Thanksgiving he got the wing. This Thanksgiving he got the sausage.
A few days ago he told the media waiting to interview him that he’d rather wash his meat balls than talk to them. He walked away to take a shower. To his credit Suh apologized and granted an interview the next day. Maybe somebody got to him. Maybe he had a change of heart. Somebody does need to reach him. I do have 10 things Suh should do to clean up his image and remain a beast on the field.
1. Admit to the Thanksgiving Stomp against Green Bay. The story lingered because we all saw what he did but Suh keeps insisting he was just trying to get away from Evan Dietrich-Smith. We are not kids. We know what we saw.
2. Remain a beast to the echo of the whistle. The man plays with a rage and that cannot leave. Most of his trouble comes when the play is done.
3. Treat the local media better. You’d be surprised the support you would get. This is not New York or Philadelphia. The Detroit media tends to give players the benefit of the doubt when athletes treat them like human beings.
4. Treat fans better. I cannot tell you how many horror stories I’ve gotten from every day fans about bad encounters with Suh. He is great when the cameras are on and during charity events. He is not so nice away from them. The problem is these stories begin to multiply. If you do not want to be bothered do it in a nice way. And make eye contact. It goes a long way.
5. Push for changes on the Lions defense. I know he has good ideas but my guess is coaches would mostly ignore him because they think he is a hot head.
6. If you agree to allow a national writer to hang with you a few days be more engaging and not so standoffish. The GQ article paints Suh as an uncaring snot because basically he treated the writer like sewer trash, although he did offer her a sandwich.
7. Tell your story. Suh says he has his inner circle of friends and he lets no one else in. But you got to give people a little something. If you do not want people in your inner circle why should they buy your products? How did Suh get to where he is? What is on his mind? If Suh told his story it would turn him from villain into a human being.
8. Drive better. Suh is lucky. Nobody has been hurt yet.
9. Interact more with teammates. You need them. The last guy that stood apart from teammates was Joey Harrington. And we all saw how that worked out.
10. And did I mention just keep being a beast on the field? Yeah I did but that is the most important thing.