Ndamukong Ngwa Suh ( , born January 6, 1987) is an American former professional football player who played defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, earning unanimous All-American honors in 2009. Suh was selected by the Detroit Lions second overall in the 2010 NFL draft. He also played for the Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Philadelphia Eagles. Suh played in three Super Bowls during his career: Super Bowl LIII with the Rams, Super Bowl LV with the Buccaneers, and Super Bowl LVII with the Eagles.
As a college senior, Suh became one of the most decorated players in college football history. He won numerous awards, including the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award, and Outland Trophy.
During his time with the Lions, Suh was selected to four All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams and was awarded Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2010. In 2015, Suh became the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history, having signed a six-year contract with the Dolphins, worth in excess of $114 million, with nearly $60 million fully guaranteed, but he was released after just three seasons. Suh was often criticized for his aggressive style of play and lack of sportsmanship. Suh was one of four defensive tackles named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
Early life Suh was born in Portland, Oregon on January 6, 1987. He attended Grant High School in Portland, where he was a four-sport star in football, basketball, soccer and track and field. Suh played as a two-way lineman for the Grant Generals. He earned first-team All-PIL honors on both offense and defense as a junior and was an honorable-mention All-state pick. As a senior, Suh collected 65 tackles, 10 sacks, and four fumble recoveries, earning him Parade magazine high school All-America honors, the 2004 Portland Interscholastic League Defensive Player of the Year and a Class 4A first-team all-state selection. Suh also played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. In basketball, he earned honorable-mention All-League honors as a junior and senior.
Also a track and field athlete, Suh was one of the state's top performers in the shot put. He was the district shot put champion in 2004 and won the OSAA Class 4A shot put title in 2005 with a school-record throw of 18.71 meters (61 ft, 4 in). For his all-around athletic accomplishments, Suh was a finalist for the Portland Tribunes Athlete of the Year.
Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Suh was the sixth ranked defensive tackle in the United States. Recruited by many, he took official visits to Nebraska, Mississippi State, Oregon State, Miami (FL), and California, before committing to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on January 20, 2005.
College career
Suh attended the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he played for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team from 2005 to 2009. As a true freshman in 2005, Suh played in the first two games before missing the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. He received a medical redshirt.
In 2006, Suh played in all 14 games as a backup defensive lineman and earned freshman All-Big 12 honors from The Sporting News. Despite coming off the bench, he finished the year with 19 total tackles, and ranked among the team leaders in tackles for loss (8) and quarterback sacks (). As a sophomore, Suh started in 11 of the Cornhuskers' 12 games and recorded 34 total tackles.
As a junior in 2008, Suh recorded a team-high 76 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, two interceptions (both returned for touchdowns, which co-led the NCAA), and a touchdown reception while playing fullback. He became the first Nebraska defensive lineman to lead the team in tackles since 1973. Suh earned First-team All-Big 12 honors in 2008, becoming the first Nebraska interior defensive lineman to earn those honors since Steve Warren in 1999. Suh was also an honorable mention All-American.
In 2009, Suh registered 85 tackles, 12 quarterback sacks, 28 quarterback hurries, 20.5 tackles for loss, 10 pass breakups, three blocked kicks, and an interception. He had 12 tackles (seven for losses, a school single-game record) and sacks in a 13–12 loss to the Texas Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship Game, for which he received game MVP honors. Suh helped Huskers defense rank first nationally in scoring defense (10.4 ppg), tied for second in total sacks (44), first in pass efficiency defense (87.3), seventh in total defense (272.0 ypg), ninth in rushing defense (93.1 ypg) and 18th in passing defense (178.9 ypg). He also played all four quarters versus Arizona in the 2009 Holiday Bowl, helping Nebraska record the first shutout in the Holiday Bowl's 32-year history, as well as the first shutout in school bowl history. Suh earned unanimous first-team All-Big 12 honors and the Big-12 Defensive Player of the Year. Nationally, he was named the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, the recipient of the Bill Willis Trophy, Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award, and Outland Trophy, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American.2011 NCAA Football Records Book, Award Winners, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, p. 12 (2011). Retrieved June 30, 2012. Suh was a finalist for the Lott Trophy, Walter Camp Award, and Heisman Trophy.
Awards In October 2009, Suh was named to The Sporting News and CBS Sports midseason All-American team. On November 10, he was selected one of four finalists for the 2009 Lombardi Award, the first Cornhusker to receive this honor since Dominic Raiola in 2000. On November 24, Suh was named one of three finalists for the 2009 Outland Trophy, alongside Mike Iupati and Russell Okung. On December 3, Suh was named as one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Award. He was also named to the 2009 Outland Trophy watch list after beginning season at No. 3 on Rivals.com′s preseason defensive tackle power ranking.
On December 7, 2009, Suh was named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. Later that evening, he was named the 2009 Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner as the top defensive player in the nation. CBS Sportsline also named Suh their Defensive Player of the Year and on December 9, the Touchdown Club of Columbus named Suh the winner of the Bill Willis Trophy. That same evening, Suh won the Lombardi Award for the top collegiate lineman or linebacker. On December 11, at the ESPN College Football Awards show, he was selected as the winner of the Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation's best defensive player and took home the Outland Trophy for the best interior lineman. Suh finished fourth in the Heisman race, accumulating 815 points, the most by a fourth-place finisher for the Heisman Trophy in its history. He was also one of four unanimous selections to the AP First-team All-America in 2009. Suh was named the 2009 AP Player of Year, becoming the first defensive player to receive the award in its history.
On January 14, 2026, Suh was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Professional career
2010 NFL draft Suh was widely considered to be one of the best prospects available in the draft. ESPN.com's draft analyst Mel Kiper, Jr., described Suh as "maybe the most dominating defensive tackle I've seen in 32 years" and projected him to go #1 overall. Suh was seen as an ideal fit at either defensive tackle in a 4–3 defense or as a defensive end in a 3–4 defense.
For off-the-field marketing activities, Suh signed with The Agency Sports Management & Marketing, where Russ Spielman served as lead agent. At the NFL Combine, Suh bench pressed 225 pounds 32 times and had a inch vertical leap, the highest for a defensive tackle since Al Lucas (36 in) in 2000.
Before the NFL draft, Suh signed with Maximum Sports Management and agent Roosevelt Barnes. This caused moderate concern for many teams who were hoping to draft him, as this was the same agent who represented Michael Crabtree. Crabtree was the longest 2009 NFL draft first round contract hold out, waiting over six weeks into the NFL season before signing with the San Francisco 49ers.
Despite the concerns, Suh was selected in the first round with the second overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions, becoming the first defensive lineman selected in the first round by the team since Luther Elliss in 1995. Suh was the highest selected Cornhusker defender since Neil Smith in 1988.
Detroit Lions
2010 On August 3, Suh agreed to a five-year, $68 million contract with the Lions, including $40 million guaranteed. On September 12, Suh had his first sack on Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. On October 10 against the St. Louis Rams, Suh recorded his first and only NFL interception off Sam Bradford. Three weeks later, Suh scored the first touchdown of his NFL career against the Washington Redskins on a recovery of a Rex Grossman fumble.
After an injury to Lions kicker Jason Hanson, the Lions had Suh attempt an extra point on November 7, 2010, against the New York Jets. However, he missed the extra point when the ball hit the right upright, and it proved to be costly since the Lions lost to the Jets 23–20 in overtime.
For the 2010 season, Suh led the Lions, all rookies, and all defensive tackles in sacks with 10. He was picked as a starter for the Pro Bowl, becoming the first Lions rookie since Barry Sanders to be picked as a Pro Bowl starter. However, Suh missed the game due to shoulder surgery. On January 25, 2011, he was named to the All-Pro Team. Suh was also named the Sporting News Rookie of the Year, the Pro Football Weekly and Pro Football Writers of America Rookie of the Year, the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year, and the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. Suh was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team. He was ranked 51st by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2011.
His rookie year saw the beginning of what would take Suh to a league record amount of fines for on-the-field behavior. He was fined $7,500 in a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns for a facemask of Jake Delhomme, fined $5,000 for using an opponent as leverage on a field goal in a week 9 game against the Jets, and fined $15,000 in a week 13 game against the Bears for unnecessary roughness against quarterback Jay Cutler.
2011
During the third quarter of the Lions' Thanksgiving game against the Green Bay Packers, Suh pushed Packers' guard Evan Dietrich-Smith's head into the ground three times, then stomped on his arm. All of this took place after the whistle was blown. Suh was penalized for unnecessary roughness and ejected from the game. The resulting penalty gave the Packers an automatic first down. The Packers scored a touchdown two plays later, giving them a 14–0 lead and an eventual 27–15 victory.
Initially, Suh denied stomping on Dietrich-Smith, saying he was only trying to get his balance back. However, on Friday morning, the Lions issued a statement calling Suh's actions "unacceptable". Within hours, Suh wrote on his Facebook page that he "made a mistake" a day before and intended to learn from it. Fox Sports NFL rules analyst and former vice president of officiating Mike Pereira said that based on his knowledge of league discipline, "the question won't be if the NFL will suspend Suh, but when—and for how many games". He drew parallels between Suh's actions and those of Albert Haynesworth, who drew a five-game suspension—the longest suspension for an on-field incident in modern NFL history—for stomping on Andre Gurode's head in 2006.