Trying not to sensationalize, or the remarkable Ndamukong Suh
Monday, April 19th, 2010I’m not the type that likes to dote over people. There’s enough of that already going around.
There are enough people out there admiring Tim Tebow’s ability to be a ‘winner.’ We already have our fill writers that will use a lot of metaphors and comparisons to sensationalize Phil Mickelson–how Tiger Woods should try to be like him, how he’s a great family man, and so on.
Yes, I would say there is plenty of that out there without me using over-blown, romanticized posts to drool all over some athlete that did something nice. So please understand that’s not my goal with this post. Whether or not I succeed may be another story.
At any rate, I was fairly taken aback yesterday upon reading this article. I’ll spare you the time of reading through the whole thing and just give the gist: former Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, a projected top-three pick in this Thursday’s upcoming NFL draft, has pledged to donate $2 million to the Nebraska athletics department and an additional $600,000 to Nebraska’s College of Engineering.
Now, I don’t intend to lionize Suh the way we’ve lionized Mickelson and Tebow and Brett Favre and so on. I can’t help but think, though, that society could use a little bit more Ndamukong Suh in their lives.
If he follows through on his promise, he will have made the largest donation of any former football player in Nebraska history, which is quite noteworthy given that one of football’s all-time great philanthropists, retired offensive tackle Will Shields, played for the Huskers.
This, of course, makes him quite remarkable before you figure his demonstrative talent and NFL promise. And his remarkable name, pronounced, as I understand it, en-DOM-ick-in. And the fact that this picture exists:

And then there’s the fact that he just seems like a relatively normal dude–or at least as relatively normal as a freakishly athletic, 6-feet-4, 300-pound man-tackler can be.
He isn’t the All-American quarterback that likes to remind you how much more he loves God than you do. He might be the aw-shucks type, but he doesn’t seem to have the same fondness for the limelight that Brett Favre does.
He is what he is: a future All-NFL defensive tackle that doesn’t mind seal kisses and does seem ready to give back.
And he’s delightful enough without my doting.
Photo credit: cincyjungle.com








