| 28 November 2011
The torches and pitchforks are out...and the target is Ndamukong Suh. Going by the reactions online, you'd think Suh channels the BTK killer on the field while clubbing seals in his free time.
CBS Sports troll masquerading as a columnist, Gregg Doyel, tells Lions fans what they should think:
But if you're a fan of the Lions, you should be hoping Goodell sits Suh for more than a few games. How about the rest of the season? Maybe that would get the message across. Lord knows national ridicule hasn't stopped Suh from being the dirtiest player since James Harrison.
And is that what you want, Lions fans?
Do you want a bigger, stronger, meaner, dirtier James Harrison?
Fans in Detroit aren't saying the NFL shouldn't suspend Suh, just give him a fair punishment. Detroiters were as disgusted as the rest of the nation. If there is one fanbase acutely aware of appearances, it's Detroit's, considering how often this area is disparaged by outsiders. Lions fans are pissed at Suh, and rightly so. His actions reflect badly on the Lions, and by association, Detroit (it shouldn't, but it does, regardless). Let's no even go into fans' unhappiness with "The Lions' best defensive player will be suspended for multiple games thanks to his on field stupidity while a playoff spot hangs in the balance" issue.
“Take my pound of flesh and sleep well...”
Despite Doyel's assertions, Lions fans do not want Suh to be known as another James Harrison...who has done more to try and hurt other players than Suh ever has. Even if it isn't to Doyel, it's obvious to Lions fans full speed helmet to helmet hits >>>>>> Stomping on an arm.
Then Doyel goes even farther over the top than I thought possible.
He might just kill someone.
Kill someone? Even Doyel says it's "maybe hyperbole." Bullshit. It is hyperbole!
It's also trolling for an emotional reaction from a reader, a Doyel specialty. If Doyel actually believes the tripe he's spewing, he needs to sit longer than Suh likely will.
SI's Peter King says Suh needs "counseling."
The Lions should very quietly arrange for Suh to get anger-management counseling, because the way he plays, and the way he goes over the edge at times, he looks like a guy who needs behavior modification.
King can't be serious. A defensive lineman who makes a fortune hitting people as hard as humanly possible needs anger management? That's just what the Lions need, a kinder and gentler defensive tackle. This is utterly and completely ridiculous, especially coming from a writer who often glorifies hard hitting defensive play. If Suh needs psychiatric counseling, then players like Dick Butkus and Jack Lambert should have been sent to prison for 12 to 25, Conrad Dobler given a life sentence without chance of parole and Jack Tatum executed.
Anger management makes sense if rage is causing problems in Suh's personal life. Otherwise, such a suggestion is out and out moronic.
Writers at Bleacher Report are showing their true colors, trolling for page views by calling for ridiculously long suspensions with SEO filled headlines like Ndamukong Suh Should Be Suspended Until Playoffs for Dirty Play:
Now it's time for him to take some time and reflect upon his sins. He deserves it. Albert Haynesworth got a five-game suspension for stomping on a player. I see no reason why Suh shouldn't deserve the same.
(And Bleacher Report being known as page view whores, there's also a...wait for it...slide show. I'm not adding another link, as it only encourages them...)
I do see a reason. What Suh did pales in comparison to Hayneswoth's stomping on the HEAD a HELMETLESS defender, cutting him wide open. Of course Suh should be suspended, but for the rest of the season? Even Roger Goodell isn't that damn clueless. Suh's a moneymaker and good for the league's overall health, as shown by the NFL's own hypocrisy by promoting him as evil in order to draw more interest in the Lions-Broncos game. They'll still make an example of him...and sitting for a game or two will do so. Any more than than that is setting a precedent, which would send the NFL down a road they don't want to tread.
If Suh is nailed with a 5 game suspension, then some of James Harrison's hits should be good for 12 games...even 16! Hell, why stop there? Suh, Harrison, they should be BANNED FROM FOOTBALL FOR LIFE!
See, I can do hyperbole too.
At Mlive, there's a call for Chrysler to drop Suh as a spokesman. Why? Because Suh's arm stomp is the equivalent of Chris Brown beating his girlfriend to a pulp or Tiger Wood's moral turpitude as a serial adulterer.
The examples are ludicrous. Keep this in mind. If Michael Vick can get a long-term contract and endorsement money after being involved in something as vile as dogfighting, I don't think Suh has much to worry about for losing his temper on national TV. Corporate America has short memories...especially if the player involved is talented with massive name recognition.
I have a suggestion. A player should miss just as many games as the player he intentionally injured. Suh should sit for as long as the Packers' Evan Dietrich-Smith is out. As we all know, Suh's stomp was so egregious, so awful, it left Dietrich-Smith injured so badly, he ended up on the IR. Wait...what?
Well, did he miss the rest of the game...a series...a play? No? Oh.
You know what will ultimately happen? Suh will deservedly be hit with a 1 or 2 game suspension without pay, then we'll all move on, lying in wait for the next controversy...which will allow everyone and their sister to, once again, show their righteous indignation.
For all of the brow furrowing and hand wringing, it actually took Jets head coach Rex Ryan to put Suh's actions in perspective.
“I’ll be honest with you I think the young man, he should be released,” here Ryan paused, “and come to the Jets."
Ryan speaks the truth. Every opposing fan who is calling for Suh's head on stick would take him on their team in less than a heartbeat. They also have him leading all tackles in the Pro Bowl voting.
Every media member who is calling Suh a serial killer in training have also praised him as a player in the past because of his aggressive, physical, borderline dirty play. The media overreactions are just as preposterous as Suh's actions are indefensible.
In the end, we're ALL hypocrites. Some just more so than others.
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