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Ndamukong Suh was the biggest defensive force in college football this season. He won every award possible for a defensive tackle and was even a Heisman Trophy Finalist. He became a household name after his extraordinary performance against Texas in the Big 12 Championship game. In that game, Suh managed to sack Colt McCoy 4.5 times and treat the Texas offensive line like they were a bunch of high schoolers. For these reasons, Suh is the #1 NFL prospect heading into April’s NFL draft. The St. Louis Rams have this year’s first overall pick and have a bunch of holes on their team that they need to fill. There is a hole at quarterback as Marc Bulger is coming off a season in which he spent time on the injured reserve due to a knee injury. Can they afford to pass on Ndamukong Suh, and draft a quarterback with the first overall pick? I don’t think so. Speed is the biggest difference between college and pro football. New quarterbacks struggle to adapt to smaller windows through which they can throw the ball and have difficulty making quick passes under pressure. I don’t see the speed of any offensive lineman giving Suh major problems. Suh should adapt quite well and be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. Ndamukong Suh joined KFXX in Portland to talk about whether it seems like after the Big 12 Championship game that he became kind of a rock star, the notion that he cost his team the game because he was too good, whether he was surprised at how easy it was to take out Arizona, how he got to Nebraska, and who else was recruiting him.
Whether it seems like after the Big 12 Championship game that he became kind of a rock star:
“Yeah kind of. Everybody is coming up to me and finding me and saying that they loved the game that I played against Texas in the Big 12 Championship. In that game I wanted to get a championship ring. I hadn’t had one since I had been there last time I was up and had an opportunity to play for a Championship in 2006 when we got killed by Oklahoma.”
On the notion that he cost his team the game because he was too good:
“Yeah I mean if I would’ve held out a little bit longer I would have maybe allowed the clock to run out but it is an unfortunate the way things ended. It is what it is. We went ahead and took care of business against Arizona in the Holiday Bowl and stamped that we are a pretty good team to be reckoned with this year.”
Whether he was surprised at how easy it was to take out Arizona:
“Um yeah I was a little surprised. I thought that they would have definitely… In my opinion they had a pretty high-powered offense so I thought that they definitely had an opportunity to get closer to the end zone and obviously have to fight a little bit harder than we did. But really it was only one time that we were particularly scared in the game when they got down past the 50-yard line and put it down on our 20. It was a fun game though. Everybody in our defensive line and in our secondary and linebackers played an excellent game. It was closer to a perfect game. Obviously there are mistakes here and there and obviously they got some big runs here and there but for the most part we played a perfect game in my opinion.”
On the team playing as well as anyone the last three weeks of the year:
“Yeah I definitely agree with that and that is just due to our coaches and they kept continually pushing us throughout the season. That is what we want to do is week in and week out is to continue get better and learn from our mistakes from a win or a loss. Hopefully it is from a win and we want to continue to win and move forward from our mistakes that we can pick up from our previous games.”
On him not winning the Heisman but will be worth $40 million in a few months:
“Um I don’t know it is funny to even think about that but I understand that there is a lot of hard work going into that. I am ready to work. Obviously I have got to find a great agency to represent me and to continue to work hard on the field and off the field and just better myself.”
On how he goes about the process of choosing an agency:
“For me it is really just my family. They have been heading that up. Both my parents, my sister, and a couple of coaches that I have had close contact with throughout high school who really helped with my college decision process as well. They have really dealt with that throughout the season because I didn’t want to deal with that throughout the season. That was my least focus. I changed my number and lost myself into football and school and that is what I wanted to do. I had a chance to do that and my family and friends have taken care of that. Now I am immersing myself in the agents and learning. Obviously I read when I had free time from school and read up on people. But obviously this is now is the time to sit down and meet people and get a more personal feel from what they have in me and what they have to offer.”
On what his plan is to do with the millions of dollars that he is set to make:
“My plan is to take care of my parents’ debt that I have caused them. I mean I am sure that I have caused a good amount of debt to them and they definitely deserve it. I want to hopefully give my mom a chance when she wants to retire and live comfortably, same with my dad. Obviously I don’t know if you guys know but I have two baby sisters that are 2, 2 ½ almost now, and I want to pay for their college.”
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