Bucs Getting The Gentler, Kinder Ndamukong Suh
May 30th, 2019
BY ZACHARY SEIFTER
JoeBucsFan.com intern
Everyone remembers when he stomped on Aaron Rodgers’ leg and when he pushed Evan Smith’s face into the turf. It’s what made Ndamukong Suh a household name.
He was labeled a “dirty” player with lots of penalties. But the numbers clearly show that version of Suh is long, long gone.
Years ago, Suh seemed not to care about the penalties or the consequences that came with him losing his temper. But he’s earned the right to shed that “dirty” label as he’s gotten older. For years, Suh has played with an edge that rarely continues after the whistle.
During the past two seasons with the Dolphins and Rams, Suh was responsible for 21 penalties, 14 of which were enforced. Those 14 enforced penalties matched his total from the 2015 season, his first in Miami.
Suh didn’t have one single unnecessary roughness penalty last season with the Rams, and only two in 2017. Bucs center Ryan Jensen had four last year alone.
For further comparison, J.J. Watt and Von Miller each had more penalties than Suh last season, and Suh was penalty-free through three playoff games.
Suh did have three roughing the passer penalties over the past two years, but considering that all one has to do is breathe near a quarterback to get that penalty, it’s hard to call him a dirty player because of it.
All three of those roughing the passer penalties hurt his team, though, coming in the fourth quarter with Suh’s club either trailing or holding a slim lead.
But Suh has seemed to figure out how to avoid playing stupid football; his seven enforced penalties last season had him tied for 45th in the NFL. And keep in mind he played in all 16 games, logged a load of snaps and was a star through the playoffs. His seven enforced penalties in 2017 ranked tied for 35th in that season..
For a Bucs team that committed 117 penalties last year, that kind of discipline should be welcomed. Bruce Arians is all about accountability and won’t tolerate anything less than a highly-disciplined football team.
So no return of your leg-stomping days this season, Mr. Suh.
May 30th, 2019 at 7:20 pm
Yeah! Like ‘Kinder and Gentler’ was what we wanted.
Jeesh!
May 30th, 2019 at 7:29 pm
Guy is just grown up & sees big picture & life after football, so he can get the $10 mil from the bucs and ride off into retirement… hope he doesnt catch the “nagging” season long sweezy injury bug that the bucs are famous for
May 30th, 2019 at 7:32 pm
Many fans will be disappointed…
May 30th, 2019 at 7:33 pm
^^^ Or the Palm Tree humping laziness of Baker^^^
May 30th, 2019 at 7:35 pm
He’ll get to work in a rotation this season so he should be able to stay fresh. It should also help with lesser penalties as well. Hopefully being fresh for a whole game, and a whole season for that matter will allow him to be on top of his game.
May 30th, 2019 at 7:40 pm
There’s a big difference between getting stupid penalties that hurt the team success, and playing with an overall nastiness or aggression. Just because he hasn’t been stomping on necks and you didn’t think he was such an articulate person, doesn’t mean he’ll be “kinder or gentler”
he’s still a powerful player that will compliment the Bucs young Samoan lumberjack named Vita
“this defensive line is gonna be versatile and feared, yes indeed” – BA
May 30th, 2019 at 8:10 pm
Bowles wants an aggressive and attacking Suh for this defense. Hopefully that is what drew Suh here. i’m not looking at this in any other way. He wants to be part of the change and play for BA and Bowles.
May 30th, 2019 at 8:12 pm
He could start estrogen therapy and still be scarier than Softie!
May 30th, 2019 at 8:15 pm
Was he at practice today?
When do we get to see him in Bucs colors?
Will he be giving a presser tomorrow?
May 30th, 2019 at 8:17 pm
Amazing!!!! I mean imagine that!!! A guy gets older and matures and learns how to catry himself. You clowns want Jameis gone before he reaches his full potential and see him succeed somewhere else. Cant wait to see this coaching staff double this teams win in the first season with Winston leading!
May 30th, 2019 at 8:26 pm
Just off the headline… fu€k outta here with this pansy talk. Damn the negative Nellys.
Go BUCS
May 30th, 2019 at 8:32 pm
I’ve gotta say I cracked a little smile after reading this article Joe. Since it was announced we were signing him there were a lot of articles about the old dumb stuff ( the Evan Smith Aaron Rodgers stuff) then you hear him talk and it’s reported he should be there tomorrow and suddenly the tone changes. All that stuff was waaaaay in the past. Thank you for finally looking at his recent behavior and acknowledging the good.
May 30th, 2019 at 8:45 pm
I don’t care what he does, at this point I just want to win.
May 30th, 2019 at 8:46 pm
“I can’t tell you how much I enjoy these guys swagger going into the season”- Carmen Vitali..
May 30th, 2019 at 8:47 pm
But go ahead thinking we about to be….
May 30th, 2019 at 8:50 pm
Suh is going to bring accountability and fear to opposing offensive lines. They are going to have to worry about Suh and Vita crushing their QBs, not like Mr. Softie bumping into them, saying I’m sorry and asking for their autographs. We have to bring fear and pain to other offenses.
May 30th, 2019 at 8:54 pm
As long as won’t turn into another version of GMc, I’m ok…
May 30th, 2019 at 9:47 pm
Suh vs Jensen
What a battle that will be to watch!
Maybe Jensen will piss Suh off enough to bring out that bad dude.
I hope he practices hard like JPP because this Oline needs to be tested every day to take their game up a notch or six.
May 30th, 2019 at 9:50 pm
It’s obvious people only read headlines now a days. Speaks volumes about our current state of affairs but I digress.
I’d say it has to do with the money. Suh is becoming well versed in the art of money and obviously giving it away for dumb stuff is no longer part of the plan.
$5 says he doesn’t show up to practice in Rolls Royce.
But listen Zack these types of articles where u share research and facts don’t help the McIceCream fans. They still talking about Suh getting 100 personal foul penalties this year all while ignoring or even cheering on Jensen’s penalties. Not to mention that he’s a dirty player who is a slacker and takes plays off etc ….
May 30th, 2019 at 10:37 pm
DB55 you made me take another look and realized it wasn’t a Joe who wrote this article. That might be the reason for the look at the positive.
May 30th, 2019 at 11:23 pm
The difference is when it is go time, Suh is ready. While the numbers are similar between McCoy and Suh’s career numbers (Suh does have a fairly noticeable advantage however), the biggest difference is when we were playing well, McCoy showed up. When we really needed a play in a close game, McCoy didn’t show up. Suh isn’t here to be a force for 10 years. That would be Devin White’s job. Suh is here to add some toughness and grit and show the young players what work on the field looks like. Especially because we are moving to a 3-4 base defense, I like the move, not to mention the 4 or so mill that was saved.
May 30th, 2019 at 11:51 pm
Cmurda
Today Suh posted a pic doing push-ups with like a 500 pound chain around his neck.
McCoy signs in the weight room.
Yet another difference
May 31st, 2019 at 7:56 am
we cut batman…and signed the hulk
May 31st, 2019 at 10:39 am
How long will it take for Mccoy watchers to move on? Every post the same lot make a comment about him regardless of the thread. Reflects poorly on the poser (not a typo). Keep it coming. Go Bucs!
May 31st, 2019 at 12:19 pm
“All three of those roughing the passer penalties hurt his team, though, coming in the fourth quarter with Suh’s club either trailing or holding a slim lead.”
So you’re saying that Suh was hitting the quarterback in the 4th quarter in a tight ball game? We didn’t have to worry about that with Gerald as he wasn’t anywhere near the quarterback in the 4th quarter.