We have now watched Ndamukong Suh of the Detroit Lions help turn the lowly Lions around. Suh is not only one of the best players on defense but it could be argued that he is one of the most talented guys on the whole team. With the distinction of being one of the leaders on the defense comes with the questioning of how he could accomplish such a feat. The Lions defense is ranked 6th in points against and 12th in yards given up. This is a huge jump from the 0-16 team just a few years ago. Now of course talent other than Suh has come to this team leading with the new head coach Jim Schwartz and his counterpart from Tennessee Kyle Vanden Bosch.
Now here is were i want to start looking and where my confusion lays. Vanden Bosch is known as a real high motor player. He has been called intense and tough for most of his career. Kyle not only plays from whistle to whistle but gives it his all on every play and this is why coach Schwartz recruited him to help in the rebuilding project in Detroit. So why is Suh a dirty player and none of the great things that are stated above? In college Suh was highly touted as new kind of talent and a beast of a player. Remember this is the NFL where toughness and intensity is just a baseline. In the NFL talent is not nearly enough.
For years we have watched talented players come and go. We heard things like “he just didn’t have the drive to be a NFL player” or we have watched players with less talent get into the Hall of Fame because they had “A real nasty streak”. So why is it that when Suh plays hard from whistle to Whistle, Refuses to waste his chance in the NFL and gives it everything he has on every play like his mentor (Vanden Bosch) is he now labeled dirty? If you look at every great defense of player they did one of two things, helped give their defense an identity and created great defense or just was the best guy on a poor team.
I believe Suh refuses to be a great guy on a poor team, his intensity will spread and the team will continue to respond. Because of his effort others on the team follow with theirs. I believe after as long as the Lions have need down it take something special to fix it and this group of guys can do it so lets end the drama of the dirty player now. Detroit has a chance to rise from the ashes and i hope they despite the media attempt to drive them back down. This is the NFL aggression is expected.