Ndamukong Suh, who hasn’t played in an NFL game since Super Bowl LVII two and a half years ago, today made it official that his NFL career is over. While not a surprise, the timing of the announcement had personal significance to Suh because today is the first anniversary of the death of his father.
“It’s the day I said goodbye to my father, the man who raised me, shaped me, challenged me, and believed in me before I believed in myself,” Suh wrote on social media. “He wasn’t just a dad. He was my idol, my coach, and my anchor. He taught me what it meant to be disciplined, focused, and relentless in everything I do. Every snap I took in football carried his fingerprint. Every time I lined up across from someone, I could hear his voice pushing me, reminding me that I wasn’t just representing myself. I was representing him, my family, my name. Before he passed, he gave me one final piece of advice, ‘It’s time to let football go. You’ve done everything you set out to do. Now it’s time for the next chapter.’”
One of the most dominant defensive tackles in college football history at Nebraska, Suh entered the NFL with the Lions as the second overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft. He made an immediate impact and was the league’s defensive rookie of the year and a first-team All-Pro as a rookie. After earning two more first-team All-Pros in Detroit, he left for Miami, signing a contract that made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history at the time. After three years with the Dolphins he had stints with the Rams and Buccaneers before closing his career with the Eagles.
Suh played in Super Bowls for each of his last three teams, a rare accomplishment in NFL history. The short list of players who have played in Super Bowls for three different franchises includes Rod Woodson (Steelers, Ravens, Raiders), Bill Romanowski (49ers, Broncos, Raiders), Preston Pearson (Colts, Steelers, Cowboys), Harry Swayne (Chargers, Broncos, Ravens) and Joe Jurevicius (Giants, Buccaneers, Seahawks).
Suh was widely regarded as one of the most feared and physically aggressive players in the NFL, a reputation that was well-earned — and a reputation that did not make him well-liked by either opponents or the league office. He was frequently fined and twice suspended for cheap shots, although one of those suspensions, which would have forced him to miss a playoff game for stepping on Aaron Rodgers’ arm, was overturned on appeal. Suh will be remembered as a great player who pushed the envelope and stood out as an old-school defender in an era when the league increasingly emphasized player safety.
Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson said in May that he was fully cleared to return from the broken leg that ended his 2024 season after five games and that announcement marked the end of a long rehabilitation process.
During a recent appearance on the With the First Pick podcast, Hutchinson was asked if going through that rehab left him feeling as prepared for the coming season as he did going into his first three years with the Lions.
“I’m exactly where I need to be,” Hutchinson said. “Every year I’ve been able to improve on my own physical attributes along with the mental ones, so I feel like every year I take a step. Despite having that rehab this offseason, I feel like I’m in the perfect spot and exactly where I need to be going into Year 4.”
Hutchinson became eligible for a contract extension this offseason, but has not signed one yet. Showing that he hasn’t missed a beat because of the injury would be a good way of assuring that a big one comes his way sooner rather than later.
Tim Rooney, the nephew of Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr. and a long-time executive for the Steelers, Lions, and Giants has died. He was 84.
Via Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rooney passed on Tuesday morning, after a short bout with cancer.
A coach at Villanova, Tim Rooney joined the Steelers in 1972, as one of four scouts. The others were Art Rooney Jr., Dick Haley and Bill Nunn. Tim Rooney served as director of pro scouting, where he scouted opponents and evaluated players already in the league.
Per Fittipaldo, Tim Rooney is often credited for the drafting of Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert. It was Tim Rooney who took coach Chuck Noll to watch Lambert play at Kent State.
Tim Rooney stayed with the Steelers through 1979, the last of their four Super Bowl-winning seasons of the 1970s.
After spending time with the Lions, the Giants hired Tim Rooney in 1985 as director of pro personnel. He stayed in that role until 1999, before later returning in a part-time capacity. Which means he won at least six Super Bowl rings during his NFL career.
“He was a great guy,” Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells said of Tim Rooney, via Fittipaldo. “When you’re a head coach, you need someone to tell you the truth. Tim was our pro personnel guy, and that was his job. We had daily interaction every day talking about the roster. We had a lot of talks and became close. That enhanced our relationship. He understood me, and I understood him.”
We extend our condolences to Tim Rooney’s family, friends, and colleagues.
Two years ago, Quarterback on Netflix became the most pleasant surprise of the summer, an inside look at the 2022 seasons for Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota.
Then came the 2023 season. And no quarterbacks wanted to do it.
So, last year, Quarterback took a seat. Receiver replaced it. And it wasn’t nearly as good.
Now Quarterback is back. It debuted today on Netflix. It’s Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins.
All three had very different experiences last season. Burrow played the best of the bunch, but his team fell short of the postseason (in part because the Bengals is the Bengals). Goff continued to play extremely well, but the No. 1 seed became a one-and-done postseason. And Cousins struggled to return to form after the Achilles injury that ended his 2023 season in Week 8, before being benched.
If there’s anything worth posting, we’ll share it. If you think that counts as a spoiler, look away when you see anything with “Quarterback” or “Netflix” in the headline.
Thursday’s #PFTPM including a simple question: “What are your thoughts on a potential Bills-Rams Super Bowl?”
My thoughts are it could happen, because both teams are firmly in the Super Bowl window.
In any given year, not many teams truly are. And while teams not apparently in the window can, in theory, win their way in, the salary-cap system has matured to the point where some teams have cracked the code — and some teams can’t crack their way out of a paper bag.
It also helps to have drafted and developed a franchise quarterback.
In most years, roughly 10 teams are in the window, roughly 10 teams aren’t, and the remaining 12 could break either way. This year, the AFC’s true short-list contenders are the Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, Bengals, and Texans. The Broncos and Chargers could force their way into the conversation.
In the NFC, it’s the Eagles, Lions, Rams, 49ers, and Commanders. Maybe the Buccaneers. Maybe the Vikings.
Again, things can and will change. That’s why they play the games, as someone once said. All the time.
For those who like a little variety, it would be nice for someone other than the Chiefs to get a turn in the Super Bowl. And for someone other than the Eagles, 49ers, or Rams to emerge from the NFC.
Since 2017, it’s been the Eagles three times, the 49ers twice, the Rams twice, and the Bucs once. For the AFC, it’s been only the Patriots, Chiefs, and Bengals.
That’s it. Over eight seasons, seven total franchises have taken the 16 total Super Bowl berths.
Free agency, the salary cap, and a draft process that rewards failure should be enough to mix things up. But the reality is that good teams stay good, and bad teams stay bad.
