Message Received, Mr. Suh
By Editorial Staff
Every championship team needs at least one. Every championship team has had at least one. Some were linebackers, some were defensive linemen, some were defensive backs. Some even played on offense. I’m talking about that particular player that MUST be present on any contender in order to have a legitimate title shot. I’m talking about the message-sending intimidator. That special player with a chip on his shoulder that DARES you to knock it off. The guy on your team that everyone else hates unless he’s on their team. You can’t win without one, and if your team is missing this dude, forget it.
There is no way around it. All the great teams need that bad-ass, and all have had that guy. For the 60’s Packers that guy would’ve been Ray Nitschke. For the 70’s Dolphins, you could say it was Larry Csonka. Who wanted a piece of that guy blasting through the line? The Steelers had Jack Lambert and Joe Greene, who didn’t get the nickname “Mean” for nothing. The Madden-era Raiders had a whole team of these players, most notably Jack Tatum. Ronnie Lott and Jack Reynolds filled that role for the Bill Walsh 49ers. The Bears, Giants, Cowboys – every one of them had this type of player. Today’s best teams have that guy also. He may not play the same position on every team, but he’s still there somewhere.
From Lawrence Taylor to Ray Lewis, Lyle Alzado to James Harrison, the best teams throughout history have all had their intimidator, by design or by mere presence. It would seem at this point that the Lions have their guy. Now all they need to continue rising is for the rest of the team to follow suit. To get tougher. To push back. Even though it’s not the first time he’s been fined for plays like this, I don’t think Ndamukong Suh is a bad guy for doing what he did. Maybe the play was just an accidental “heat of the moment” type thing. We may never know. What is known is that Suh looks like the best man for the job. The message has been sent out to the entire league now. The Lions are through being pushed around. It’s now their turn to push back. Message received, Mr. Suh.