Ndamukong Suh insists he did not deserve to be thrown out of the Lions' Thanksgiving defeat by Green Bay.
Controversial Lion insists he did not deserve Thanksgiving Day ejection
Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh insists he did not deserve to be thrown out of the Lions' Thanksgiving defeat by Green Bay for kicking Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith.
Suh has been gaining a reputation as a dirty player in the NFL after picking up fines totalling $42,000 already this season for late and illegal hits, mainly on opposing quarterbacks.
The Lions man treads a fine line but insists he is not a dirty player, although his actions on Thursday night will not have helped and he could face a suspension from the league as a result.
In a fractious game that had already seen Packers defensive back Pat Lee ejected for fighting, Suh then tangled with Dietrich-Smith, rubbing his head into the turf as he got up before standing on his arm.
It was pretty blatant from Suh, who got some angry words in his ear from Lions coach Jim Schwartz on the sidelines before leaving the field - but in what seems like a denial too far, he insists he should not have been thrown out.
Not guilty
"I'm first and foremost only going to apologize to my team-mates, my coaches and my true fans for allowing the refs to have an opportunity to take me out of this game," Suh told reporters after the game.
"What I did was remove myself from the situation in the best way I felt, me being held down in the situation I was in. And further, my intentions were not to kick anybody, as I did not, removing myself as you see, I'm walking away from the situation and with that I apologize to my teammates and my fans and my coaches for putting myself in the position to be misinterpreted and taken out of the game."
Video replays seemed conclusive, but Suh insisted he had merely overbalanced and was not trying to stamp on an opponent, and hinted at his growing reputation being more of a reason for him being ejected.
"A lot of people are going to interpret it as, or create their own storylines for seeing what they want to interpret, but I know what I did, and the man upstairs knows what I did," he said.
"I understand in this world because of the type of player and the type of person I am, all eyes are on me. So why would I do something to jeopardise myself and jeopardise my team first and foremost?
Bad intentions
"So with that, that's why, I don't do bad things. I have no intention to hurt somebody. If I want to hurt him, I'm going to hit his quarterback, as I did throughout that game."
Along with his cumulative fines, Suh has already held a meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to clear up the way he plays, but this latest incident will do little to help him.
Another big fine seems certain and a suspension is highly likely. Losing such a fearsome player will also hurt Detroit's famed pass rush as they now look to push on for a play-off place.
Although he does not want to miss games, Suh seems to have little interest in public opinion.
"People are going to have their own opinions. That's fine. The only person that I really care about are my team-mates and my true fans and my coaches and their opinions, and that's where it lies," he added.
