Ndamukong Suh's Silly Appeal of Suspension Won't Be Successful

Detroit Lions' defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will appeal the two-game suspension handed down by the NFL on Tuesday.

The league announced Tuesday morning Suh was being suspended for banging the head of Green Bay Packers' offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith on the turf after the whistle, then stomping on Dietrich-Smith's arm, in the Lions' 27-15 loss to the Packers on Thanksgiving day.

The fact Suh is appealing shows he and his agent aren't particularly adept at reading between the lines.

Earlier Tuesday, Merton Hanks, the NFL's vice president for football operations, said in a statement that Suh had three business days in which to file an appeal and that the appeals process would be expedited. A decision to an appeal would come down before Sunday's game.

Maybe I'm cynical, but when I read "expedited" as it related to the appeals process, I interpreted it to mean, "Sure, go ahead and appeal. We'll give you a quick hearing, deny the appeal and you can 'expedite' your big butt home for a couple of weeks, capice?"

Presuming the appeal will be denied, the timing is certainly bad. As evidenced by what happened to the New York Giants at the Superdome Monday night, you don't want to go into New Orleans missing key players on the defensive side of the ball.

The Saints are perfect at home this season, averaging more than 41 points a game in the process. It was going to be a tough win for the Lions to get with Suh in the lineup.

On the other hand, the Lions will likely beat Minnesota with or without Suh. So if Detroit goes 1-1 over the next two weeks, the practical effect of Suh's suspension will be negligible.

However, if this is what it takes to finally get Suh to clean up his act and stop doing stupid, selfish things such as stomping on people and ripping off the helmets of opposing quarterbacks, both the player and the team will benefit in the long run.

The NFL, in its announcement, cited this as Suh's fifth on-field rules violation in his less than two seasons in the league. That's a lot of stepping over the proverbial line between aggressive and dirty.

Other players, past and present, noticed Suh's latest transgression. NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders, a Hall of Fame player, said Suh committed one of the two acts that violate the unwritten rules of conduct between players. According to Sanders, within the fraternity of professional football players, you don't spit on another player and you never, ever use your feet on them.

His ejection was a turning point in the loss to the Packers. The Lions trailed 7-0 at the time of the incident and the penalty kept alive a Green Bay drive. So instead of contemplating a field goal attempt, the Packers took the first down via mental meltdown and later cashed that in for a touchdown and a 14-0 advantage.

Suh is undeniably a great talent and I love his passion for the game. But unless he's able to dial that passion down to a level where he stays on the right side of the rules—written and not—he will put himself in the position of being as much of a negative to the Lions and he is a positive.