Allen Park He supposedly was too detached, didn't want to be here, didn't want to stay here. That was the easy angle on Ndamukong Suh, and he didn't do much to refute it. His only consistent retort: I'll be ready to play.
So now that he's in the midst of a dominant season, with the Lions 7-2 and the defense ranked No. 1, I figured it was time to ask if he had any I-told-you-so messages. He smiled and politely declined.
"How about you just do that for me?" he said. "I'm not that type of person, so you can do it.
I let the actions speak."
Suh is right, although that doesn't necessarily mean everyone else is wrong. He still doesn't talk about his future and it's still unclear (and probably undecided) if this is his final season with the Lions. When he says it's business, I think he means it. It's not personal, it's not the first step out of town. If the Lions offer the best deal somewhere near J.J. Watt's six-year, $100 million contract I think he stays.
Which leads to two questions. How can the Lions afford to keep him? How can the Lions afford not to keep him?
Suh is playing as well as any tackle in football, and at 27, is in his prime. He's durable never missed a game because of injury and is doing what he said he'd do.
Remember all the angst from fans and media when Suh missed voluntary offseason workouts to train on his own back in Oregon? You know, how his aloof manner was going to wreck team chemistry and hinder Jim Caldwell's debut? I thought it was nonsense then and Suh is showing it's nonsense now. He's not talking about his contract, he's not being distracted and he's not letting down.
According to teammates, Suh is humble and approachable. According to Pro Football Focus, he leads all defensive tackles with 35 quarterback pressures, including four sacks. According to Caldwell, this isn't a surprise to anyone connected with the Lions.
"Obviously, those of us here in the building didn't express the same kind of concern that was swirling around publicly," Caldwell said. "He was here when the rules say he should be here. He was not here when the rules say he doesn't have to be here. If there's one guy you don't have to worry about in terms of the shape he's gonna be in, or the performance he's gonna have, it's this guy."
Suh said he benefited more by sticking with his regular, intense training routine, the one he's always followed. But because his contract was up, it stirred more questions. GM Martin Mayhew expressed hope for a new deal, even when he halted negotiations just before training camp. Suh uses leverage brilliantly on the field and gambled for leverage off the field, and so far, he has won that battle. But nobody has lost it yet.
If the Lions keep winning, this is win-win. There's still risk, and no guarantee of a satisfactory conclusion, but I doubt either side is intentionally duping the other. The Lions probably considered it too big a gamble to make Suh the highest-paid defensive player ever, with huge contract obligations to Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford. But with the salary cap rising, there's always wiggle room.
Of course it takes two to wiggle, and maybe Suh wanted to see how the new coaching staff worked. Maybe he just wants to test free agency no matter what. It won't be easy to keep him but Pro Bowl tackles aren't easy to find, and the Lions have spent years looking for a defensive player like this. His presence impacts everyone on the deep line, including Ziggy Ansah (5.5 sacks), George Johnson (four sacks) and the injured Nick Fairley.
Caldwell doesn't hold back in his praise for Suh, opting for honesty over negotiating tactics.
"He's one of the all-time best in terms of preparation," Caldwell said. "He's smart, he's tough. He's a pro, not a dilettante. Dilettantes kind of dabble in the business, they think about it occasionally. It's his life."
After 4½ seasons with the Lions, Suh is still a bit of a mystery, a massive public figure with a seemingly manufactured public persona. When he talks to the media, he's not trying to be abrasive, just evasive. He even apologized Wednesday for not speaking after his dominant performance against the Dolphins Sunday.
He has a menacing countenance on the field and a dismissive demeanor off it, but he's different in comfortable settings, such as the locker room. Put him in front of a camera to talk about himself and not read a commercial script and he squirms.
"I've always had fun here playing in Detroit, and I look forward to continuing to have fun with this team," Suh said. "I've always been me, and will continue to be me. It's tough because I'm an introvert, so it's hard for me to let people in."
He says "introvert" as if it's a clinical diagnosis, or a protective shield. And honestly, that's fine. Lions fans probably are less interested in the warm and fuzzy, and more enamored with the cold and nasty on the field.
His teammates are the rare ones who see both.
"When I was just another player in this league, I thought Suh was hard-nosed, tough, mean," safety Glover Quin said. "But I get here and he's a soft teddy bear. I mess with Suh all the time, get in his face, pick at him. He's soft-spoken, and a lot of people get that confused with being, whatever you want to call it. But I love the guy, love to play with him."
Suh makes teammates better and they're making him better, and the result is a fearsome defense. Some said it wasn't possible, or isn't sustainable. Suh isn't saying they're wrong, but he's certainly showing it.