Well Deserved Suspension Likely on the Way for Lions Suh

I love good, hard-nosed football. I love players that wear their hearts on their sleeves and play with a passion that equals or surpasses their skills on the football field. As a fan, I live for watching a player leave it all out on the field, making sure that they deliver the kind of performance that both their team and the fans deserve.

What I cannot stand is when a player allows that fire and that passion to overwhelm common sense, pushing them from the ranks of the hard-nosed to the bull-headed.

Before today's action, I was willing to give Ndamukong Suh of the Detroit Lions the benefit of the doubt. I was ready to believe that Suh, like Pittsburgh's James Harrison, was just a player who played the game all-out, in the old-school manor where hitting was meant to deliver a message. I was even willing to believe that Suh was being vilified by Commissioner Goodell's mission to sugar coat the NFL with lollipops and roses.

After watching his antics on Thanksgiving versus the Packers, I am no longer help captive under that delusion.

As you likely also saw, Suh flipped a lid during the 3^rd Quarter against Green Bay. After tussling Packer's lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith, Suh not only forced Smith's head to the ground three times, but then stomped on the lineman's arm once he got to his feet, earning himself an immediate ejection and turning what would have resulted in a field goal opportunity into a touchdown two plays later. Ultimately, it was the turning point in the game, allowing the Packers to turn a 7-0 halftime lead into a 21-0 advantage before Detroit could get their head on straight again.

Suh's decision to put his own maturity issues ahead of the success of the team was blatantly stupid. Goaded into the action or not, Suh needs to understand his place as a leader on a young team on the rise. The defense revolves around his ability to plug the line and put constant pressure on the opposing quarterback. None of that means a thing if he's in the locker room stripping off his gear because his hot head got the best of him and earned him an early shower while he team was fighting in one of the most important games of their season. Now, as his team is entering the playoff push and looking to capture its first berth since 1999, the possibility of a Suh's suspension looms over them and they have to hope that the Bears, Giants, or Falcons fall on their faces.

Furthermore, Suh's actions come just weeks after meeting with Goodell about playing within the confines of the rules. Goodell is not going to look at Thursday's actions as a sign that he's learned anything. He's going to see a player who has no respect for the safety of the other players on the field and thus deserves to sit a few games in order to figure it out some more. Goodell is not going to want to hear that Smith dragged him into it, or even that he is sorry and it won't happen again. Goodell is going to want to teach Suh a lesson and from where I am sitting, it looks like it needs to be a harsh one.

This needs to be the turning point in Suh's career. He needs to sit back and review what happened today and find a way to still carry that fire, without letting it smoke out his common sense.

Or if he prefers, he can continue to sit on the bench with an open wallet. It's his choice.