Devotion Highlighted
December 10th, 2021
What do you do on your day off?
Joe suspects few fans drive to their office, school, restaurant or dealership and start working on their craft for no extra pay.
However, beastly defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is one of those kinds of guys as he approaches his 35th birthday next month and his 197th NFL game on Sunday (including playoffs).
Suh has endured a tremendous amount of wear and tear in the trenches. Warren Sapp, for example, played 207 games. Legendary Vince Wilfork played in 213.
Still, Suh is driven to greatness. Joe had to rewind the audio yesterday when Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles talked about Suh coming to One Buc Palace to run sprints on his days off.
Joe suspects Suh, who has earned more than $110 million in his NFL career, lives in a home that has a place for him to run sprints. He certainly can afford top training equipment, or head to one of the fancy training gyms in Tampa. No, Suh goes to One Buc Palace, gets past security, gets through the parking lot and swipes his key card so he can run gassers on his day off with Bucs staff looking at him through their office windows.
Stunning.
Hearing this reminded Joe of covering a Bucs road game and staying at the team hotel years ago.
Joe hit the hotel gym on the morning of the game and the late Vincent Jackson was there running pretty hard on a treadmill and using other equipment not even four hours before kickoff.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:20 am
Pete comments on Joebucsfan all day long on his day off
December 10th, 2021 at 8:38 am
Sure beats watching super hero movies all day
December 10th, 2021 at 8:49 am
super hero movies, lol. Yeah, hollyweird has run outta ideas, and McCoy loves it.
Amazing about Suh, what a beast, and he seems to pick his game up at the big moments, unlike the previous McCoy guy.
The literally aren’t in the same league, IMO. Geraldino was a good guy, but a beast he was not.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:51 am
Suh is one of those players you hate until he plays for your team. One of my favorite Buccaneers.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:05 am
I like Suh, but I REALLY like how you frame this as devotion and not that he’ll just be liable for his injuries if he sustains something serious while training away from the facility.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:21 am
Suh’s days off are regular work days (Monday and Tuesday) for the rest of us minions. Plus, he gets, what, five months off? Big deal. He should be in there working.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:22 am
Suh’s days off are regular work days (Monday and Tuesday) for the rest of us minions. Plus, he gets, what, five months off? Big deal. He should be in there working.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:33 am
I’ve liked Suh ever since he stepped on Evan-Deitric’s head.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:39 am
He was hoping to go over film with BA & Bowles, instead from the coaches offices he heard crickets and decided to run sprints. Coaching staff had the day off, another long weekend.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:07 am
I think and hope Suh is back for another year with the Bucs.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:42 am
That would explain why Jackson got caught from behind on his 95 yard catch and run. Football players are sprinters, not long distance runners. Long distance running makes athletes actually slower, overtrains slow twitch muscle fibers, and makes sprinting athletes more susceptible to injury. You want to be fast, you train fast.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:50 am
….or…perhaps his motivation is to squelch the notion on the part of some, that at his age, he likely doesn’t have another season in him?!!
December 10th, 2021 at 11:38 am
RIP VJax. I hope he understood how loved he was.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:44 am
I STILL REMEMBER …
The Bucs were positioned perfectly to draft Suh (the most dominant DL in college history). The plan, the plan everyone in the world knew and appreciated, was to drop every game and draft demi-god Suh.
WHAT HAPPENS …
Privy to the plan, the Saints sucker eternal optimist, coach/cheerleader Raheem Morris into winning the second to the last game. Fans everywhere were screaming at the TV, “WTF are you doing!!!!!” NOLA throws the game, the Bucs draft Sweetheart McCoy, and Morris ends up as an assistant for the rest of his career.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:45 am
Guy is a pro and realizes he has a chance to cement a legacy for himself. When talking about defensive tandems, what about him and Vea? They are becoming a nightmare for opposing lines.
December 10th, 2021 at 12:19 pm
Maybe Suh has a wife like mine, and he’d rather go run wind-sprints than sit at home with her.
December 10th, 2021 at 2:29 pm
Ndamukong Suh is not just one of my favorite Bucs, he’s also one of my favorite NFL players. I remember hearing some of the NFL old-timers talk about players who were a ‘Pro’s Pro’ and though that must be the ultimate compliment. Well, Suh is unquestionably a ‘Pro’s Pro’.
I remember 2018 when Bucs were #24 against the run, and that’s about where we’d ranked since 2016 (despite Mike Smith focusing on stopping the run). Then we got Suh & Vea (the rookie) to man the interior DLine and whammo … Bucs became #1 in run defense. Then again in 2020 & in 2021 (although we slipped to #2 recently). The big difference has been Suh’s leadership-by-example, and the tutoring he’s given to Vea (and to Will Gholston for that matter).
I’d love to see him come back for 1 more year also, but have a hunch that’ll depend on if he feels the Bucs can field a competitive team in 2022. Unfortunately that’s a very big IF.
December 10th, 2021 at 2:49 pm
People like suh and Brady are self driven highly motivated exceptions. Nobody has to tell them when to go to work. I’ve been watching this franchise since the inception and it is refreshing to finally have an ownership group that understands what it takes to acquire such rare individuals, and keep them! Good job glazers!
December 10th, 2021 at 5:07 pm
Once again, highlighting the McCoy Mistake in the draft. Suh was the pick.
December 11th, 2021 at 1:29 pm
Suh has been taking cheap shots at Brady for years, I’m sure Brady is glad he doesn’t have to be clothes lined by those tree trunk arms anymore.
December 11th, 2021 at 9:17 pm
RIP VJax