Ndamukong Suh to Appeal Suspension, But Does Detroit Lions DT Have a Case?

The NFL handed down the punishment for Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh on Tuesday, giving the dominant but high-strung Suh a two-game suspension for his stomp of Green Bay Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith last Thursday. 

Suh and the Lions announced shortly thereafter that he will in fact appeal his suspension. Here is the tweet from ESPN's Adam Schefter:

"

Ndamukong Suh knows he made a mistake, but he has been encouraged by NFLPA and Roger Goodell to appeal 2-game suspension and he will.

"

Both the suspension and appeal came as no surprise, but does Suh actually have a case to see his suspension reduced? 

You have to look at the whole picture to answer that question. 

Suh has slowly but surely gained a reputation in the league of being a "dirty" player, and whether you agree with that sentiment or not, there are some acts in his short career of playing in the NFL that justify that label. Or, at least the NFL disciplinary office thinks so. 

Suh was fined this preseason for violently throwing quarterback Andy Dalton to the ground after the ball had been thrown. 

In 2010, the NFL took money from Suh for two separate incidents. The first came after Suh shoved Bears quarterback Jay Cutler in the back, and the other when he twisted Jake Delhomme's face mask after slamming him to the ground. Including his most recent incident, Suh has been fined or suspended a total of five times in two NFL seasons. 

Suh's actions against the Packers were likely suspendible in their own right, but his past history made Roger Goodell's decision to suspend him an easy one. You simply cannot slam another player's head into the ground repeatedly and then stomp him while he's on the ground. The NFL is a tough and violent league, but that kind of behavior after the whistle has no place in any level of football.

You also have to look at the precedent set for past violations like this. Albert Haynesworth stomped the helmet-less head of Andre Gurode back in 2006, and he was suspended five games. In recent years, the NFL has suspended players for a game because of helmet-to-helmet hits.

Does Suh's incident fall into those parameters? You'd have to think so. He certainly didn't stomp someone's exposed head, but it was clear that Suh has malicious intent when he took his cleat to Dietrich-Smith's arm. Suh's immature postgame rant surely wasn't the response the commissioner was looking for either.

So, while I have no problems with Suh appealing his suspension, it doesn't look like he has much of a case for it to get reduced. The NFL will hear his side, but there's not much Suh can say in defense for what he did.

The two-game suspension should stand. As the saying goes: You do the crime, you pay the time. It's time for Suh to pay up.