Ndamukong Suh’s Two-Game Suspension Upheld After Appeal

He appealed his suspension this week with Art Shell, who was jointly appointed by the players and the league, and that appeal has been denied, according to the Lions website.

Some thought Suh’s appeal could be successful in reducing his suspension from one to two games but ultimately that’s not the case and I think the league made the right move here. Suh is a repeat offender and he made an egregious error in front of one of the biggest broadcasts of the year for the NFL. He needed to be punished.

Suh reportedly called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Sunday to apologize about the incident. He also apologized for his milquetoast postgame comments in which he attempted to pass the incident off as simply losing his balance.

The lasting impression from the NFL’s slate of Thanksgiving Day games was, unfortunately, Ndamukong Suh’s stomp. As many good story lines as there were, that little moment is the one that casual fans are most likely to remember. Suh was suspended two games, which will cost him about $160,000, but this may have cost him more than money writes National Football Post’s Andrew Brandt:

This is unfortunate for all parties involved. There’s simply no denying that Suh is a force on the football field and is the kind of player the league would love to be able to market. But incidents like this are going to make it harder, as Brandt so clearly illustrates.

It had been previously reported that the league might make Suh go through anger management classes but that’s not part of the discipline from the league, Glazer reports.

The two-game suspension isn’t excessive, in my opinion, considering Suh has been fined multiple times and leads the league in personal fouls since entering the NFL. Given his past history, we knew something like this was the next step.

Suh was widely criticized for his lack of remorse and outright denial of the incident immediately following the game, although he softened his stance the next day in a statement released on his Facebook page.

“My reaction on Thursday was unacceptable,” the statement included. “I made a mistake, and have learned from it. I hope to direct the focus back to the task at hand -- by winning.”

Speculating about duration and gravity of punishment is rarely accurate, but Schefter must know something, as, despite his employer, he’s one of the most well-sourced, well-respected journalists in football. Lions fans shouldn’t expect the leader of their defense back anytime soon, which could spell doom for their playoff hopes.

For more on Suh and the Lions, visit Pride of Detroit and SB Nation Detroit.

In a nationally televised Thanksgiving Day matchup between the Packers and Lions, Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was caught stomping the arm of a downed opponent. The stomp earned Suh an ejection and the ire of the public, with many calling him a dirty player. The situation was made even worse by a statement in which Suh proclaimed he accidentally stepped on Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith.

Friday brought a change in tone from Suh. He apologized for the incident and deemed his actions unacceptable in a statement on Facebook.

Dietrich-Smith, for what it’s worth, seems to be taking the incident in stride. “We’re just football players out there playing football,” he said. “Sometimes things happen. I don’t know what drove him to do what he did. I can’t say much else.”

Suh’s explanation from Thursday’s post-game press conference:

Ndamukong Suh was ejected in the third quarter of the Detroit Lions matchup with the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving Day after stomping on a downed opponent during a scrum. Suh was clearly seen jamming his foot down on Evan Dietrich-Smith’s arm right in front of the referee, and was flagged for a personal foul while being ejected from the game. Now, Suh faces discipline from the league, either in the form of a fine, at best, or a suspension.

For his part, Suh denies intentionally stomping on Dietrich-Smith, instead saying he was off-balance and trying to walk away from the situation.

This is a massive loss for the Lions as Suh is easily the best player on the defense, and among the best in the entire NFL. Suh has gained a reputation as a dirty player for multiple illegal hits and even recently met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to clear the air on some of those hits but apparently that didn’t help in this situation.

Bad news for the Lions. The’yre trailing the Packers, 7-0, and they just lost their best player.