Ndamukong Suh Exclusive Interview: 7 Things You May Not Know About the NFL ROY

Remember this guy? Ndamukong Suh?

I know the NFL lockout has been on for a while, but try hard to remember. He had 10 sacks in 2010. A rookie Pro Bowler...Defensive Rookie of the Year?

Right, I knew you'd remember if I jogged your memory. Maybe soon he'll have the opportunity to jog our memories about how good he was on the football field.

In the meantime, I got a chance to talk to the Detroit Lions tackle while he was in Detroit doing an event for Subway (you can read more about his promo event here).

In addition to talking about his work with Subway, I was also able to ask him about the NFL lockout, his teammates, "Silver Crush" and a variety of other topics.

Suh had plenty of interesting things to say, and some that may surprise you.

For starters...

Kyle Vanden Bosch Is a Mentor to Suh...

Kyle Vanden Bosch has been a great leader, not just on the defensive line, but for the entire team, since Jim Schwartz showed up on his doorstep at the advent of the 2010 free-agency period.

According to Suh, nothing has changed, even during the lockout.

"He's been a great guy since the lockout started," Suh said. "Being a player rep, he's updated me on the situation and what he's hearing."

Well, sure, but just every so often, right? Surely his communication with Suh and the rest of the team has lagged a bit during this awkward time in the NFL.

Right?

"I actually talked to him a couple weeks ago to see how he was doing, and might run into him this weekend back home in Portland. He's been in great communication, and it hasn't fallen off even though we're not in the same state the majority of the time."

So maybe Vanden Bosch's influence on the Man Named Suh is no big surprise to you. Vanden Bosch's leadership qualities are well known, after all

If that's the case, read on.

...But He's Not the Only One

Everybody knows how Kyle Vanden Bosch took hold of the Detroit Lions defense last year and put them all on his work schedule (Vanden Bosch's idea of a week off is seven one-a-days).

From his text messages to Suh organizing pre-practice weightlifting sessions to his work organizing team workouts during the lockout, Vanden Bosch has been a team leader and a mentor to Suh.

So when Suh started talking about "both of the guys who have taken [him] under their wing," I was a little surprised.

Vanden Bosch was indeed one, but the other?

Fellow Nebraska Cornhusker Dominic Raiola.

"Kyle has shown me the ropes of how to be a pro and watching film, and Dominic has done it from an offensive perspective," Suh said of his team mentors.

Perhaps unexpected, but not at all surprising when you think about it. Raiola is one of the most technically proficient centers in football, so who better to tutor Suh on how his opponents are likely to come at him?

You don't often hear of offensive players tutoring their defensive counterparts, but Suh believes having both perspectives has been hugely important for him.

"It has given me a tremendous advantage getting the best of both worlds, one guy who I'm lining up next to, and one guy I'm going against in practice. I can't thank those guys enough."

What's Bugging Suh Most About the Lockout?

If the 2011 NFL season were progressing normally, Suh would have been preparing for training camp instead of talking to me.

Though I'm certain he's very happy with his Subway endorsement, Suh is definitely itching to get back to football.

Ever the relentless worker, Suh didn't wait a split second before answering my question about what he was most looking forward to when the lockout ends.

"Being in camp."

He elaborated on his answer, talking about how it's difficult to find a place to work out where he feels comfortable, and that he doesn't have access to film, which makes it harder to prepare for the season.

Still, his point was clear. He wants to get back to normal, organized football operations as soon as possible, and he wants his teammates around him—all of them—when he does. This man is eager to work.

Of course, he has been working, and certain factions of the team have been working together, but Suh says it isn't quite the same.

"I've been around some of my teammates in the past couple months, but our whole unit's not together at once because everyone has been preparing in their own way."

On His Surgically Repaired Shoulder

Here is Suh taking a shot directly at the shoulder that had apparently been injured all season.

I told Suh he caught us all off guard when he skipped the Pro Bowl to get shoulder surgery. I don't believe anybody watching would have thought he was playing hurt, especially since it wasn't on the weekly injury report.

So if he played the entire season with a nagging shoulder injury, how did that affect his play?

"I don't let those things affect me once I'm between the white lines," Suh said. "It's something I have to deal with on the sidelines or during the week of practice."

"I know a lot of athletes can relate to this," he continued. "As soon as you hit those white lines, you have a job and you have a goal set that you want to accomplish, and you forget about everything else."

That's certainly the kind of talk that endears a player to his fans, particularly in a blue-collar city like Detroit, but it really didn't affect him at all, playing through the pain?

"I honestly don't think it did, and if it did, I didn't notice it."

That's all well and good, but how about now? He had the surgery on his shoulder, so is he going to be ready to go for next season?

"I'm definitely feeling good," Suh said.

In the absence of any Lions team doctors, Suh has been getting treatment for his shoulder from his former athletic trainer at Nebraska, Mark Mayer, who Suh referred to as "one of the best guys in the country."

"They've taken great care of me, and continue to. I'm feeling good, I'm excited and ready to get back to playing football."

Add Suh to the list of people anxious to get back to football.

Suh on "Silver Crush"

When the topic got around to the defensive line, I couldn't help asking what he thought of the unit's proposed nickname, "Silver Crush."

"It's not a bad name at all."

So does he expect it to stick, then?

"It would be something that, as a unit and a team, we'll have to agree upon," Suh said, though he admitted that the real point of the nickname is for the fans to get engaged and "have fun with" it.

Suh seems to like the idea of a nickname in general, but wouldn't really swing too far in favor of or against "Silver Crush." Really, he's just keeping sight of what's truly important.

"We're going to continue to have fun with it, but it's really a matter of living up to that name, whatever it may be."

For a Moment, Fairley and Suh Were Detroit Lions with No Lockout

It wasn't for very long, but there did exist a time in which Nick Fairley and Suh met as teammates, in Detroit, in a lockout-less NFL.

There was a brief period in which the NFL lockout was lifted, if you remember. It was just before the NFL draft, and the first day of the draft was abuzz with how free agency would start working, or whether the decision would hold up in appeals court.

The second day of the draft came with the news that a stay had been put on that decision, and the lockout would therefore remain in place.

But they weren't fast enough to keep Suh from meeting up with his new teammate.

"I spoke with him that Friday when the lockout was lifted, the day after he got drafted," Suh said. "He seems very energetic and ready to join the great defensive line that we have. It should be very exciting to have him come on board and be a part of the group that we want to be."

A ringing, if generic, endorsement of his future linemate, for sure. But perhaps more telling is what "the group that we want to be" actually means to Suh.

Suh's Lofty Goal

He didn't say whether it was specifically because of Nick Fairley, but Suh laid out an awfully optimistic goal while talking about how excited he was to have Fairley join the team.

"We want to be known as one of the greatest defensive lines to ever play," Suh said without an ounce of hesitation.

Many Lions fans have considered putting the Lions defensive line among the league's current best, but among the league's all-time best?

That's big talk for a second-year player banking on a rookie. Luckily, it's backed up by a big man with big numbers, who has always delivered when his number is called.

I find it interesting that in discussing his goals for the defensive line, at no point did he talk about himself or his own accomplishments (which are absolutely unprecedented for a rookie DT). I can personally confirm that Suh is not only incredibly humble, but completely team oriented.

He could very easily have gone into his ambition to be one of the greatest players ever to play (and when all is said and done, he might be), but instead, he's concerned with the strength of his unit and his team.

If you're a Lions fan and that doesn't thrill you, you're watching the wrong sport.