On Thanksgiving Day it became the stomp felt around the sports world when Ndamukong Suh repeatedly shoved the head of Green Bay Packers’ offensive guard Evan Dietrich-Smith into the turf and then stomped on his arm before walking away after being ejected from the game.
Initially, Suh attempted portraying his actions as being misunderstood, just as he did when he ripped the helmet off of Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, and just as he did when he drove Bears quarterback Jay Cutler into the ground after the whistle had blown. These stunts led to Suh being internally labeled one of the dirtiest players and biggest trash talkers in the game. Ndamukong was fined for both violations and is now facing multiple game suspensions and potentially mandatory anger management classes for this latest holiday game incident. That is what the NFL needs to do in accordance with their regulations, and many NFL stars such as Hines Ward are offering Suh advice mostly asking him to tone things down, and while in the name of sportsmanship most people are inclined to agree, but for the fans and players of the Detroit Lions perhaps it’s a way of asking other teams “Do you get the message?”
Detroit, Michigan is not a happy place. It is a once prosperous community now burning on the fumes of the Ford industry. A city that was once known as the murder capital of the United States has experienced hardships and misery that are reflected in their sports teams. You have to be tough and thick skinned in order to survive in a place like Detroit. That’s why the Detroit Red Wings are considered one of the greatest franchises in sports history, they have a reputation for being skillful athletes and brutal, violent competitors; and it has brought them multiple championships. No one has asked them to tone things down.
Ndamukong Suh wants to be seen as a friendly big man. It helps his marketability, but for those that have played with and against him they all know that he is far from a gentle giant. He is a ruthless, cutthroat opponent. Most of his college teammates in Nebraska didn’t even like him, but he is playing in a franchise for a city that knows all about grinding the day away, never taking time off for the sake of luxury. Detroit is a blue collar city with blue collar people that don’t know the meaning of the word luxury and experience very little in the ways of compassion, so why shouldn’t they have a player and a team that reflects these things.
The Detroit Lions were winless only three years ago and are now trying to make a run at the playoffs. When Suh was ejected from the game after his unsportsmanlike conduct, there were no coaches, no players chastising him on the sidelines; maybe they did in the locker room, but normally they don’t wait that long. If you’ve done a serious wrong you’re likely to get an earful on the sidelines right then and there. So maybe there are some folks that do not object to his behavior, but they do prefer that he channels that anger into his gameplay, like fellow wide receiver Calvin Johnson, instead of becoming a grid iron terrorist.
At first Ndamukong created an unbelievable excuse for his actions against Dietrich-Smith, saying he lost his balance, and only on Saturday did he finally admit that his actions were over the line, but I’m not sure if the city of Detroit cares about him going over the line. They care about winning, but more importantly no one’s laughing at them anymore. So, hopefully for Ndamukong Suh and the opponents of the Detroit Lions – message received.
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