After sitting out of the NFL for the past two seasons, Ndamukong Suh has officially decided that his football career is over. The five-time Pro Bowler announced his retirement over the weekend, ending an impressive 13-year run that started in 2010 when the Detroit Lions made him the second overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Although Suh was one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL for a good chunk of his career, he was also a controversial player who racked up more than $400,000 in fines. In both 2011 and 2012, Suh was voted the dirtiest player in the NFL.
Suh’s career was filled with highlights AND controversial moments, and we’re going to take a look at a few of those below:
2010: Suh leads Lions to win over Washington
Suh scored three touchdowns in his career and the first one came during his rookie season. In a Week 8 game against Washington, the Lions were clinging to a 31-25 lead late in the fourth quarter. Washington had a first down at its own 30-yard line with 1:45 left to play — knowing that a touchdown would win — and that’s where Suh came in. He recovered a fumble by Rex Grossman and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown that iced the game. Detroit would win 37-25. Suh was impressive in 2010, which led to him being voted NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Suh also rumbled his way to a 37-yard fumble return for a touchdown while playing for the Buccaneers in 2019.
2010: Suh attempts an extra point
One week after scoring his first career touchdown, the Lions decided to let Suh attempt an extra point in a game against the New York Jets. After Detroit kicker Jason Hanson went down with an injury, the Lions turned to Suh for an extra point attempt in the second half. Even though he was a rookie, Suh had been so good at kicking in practice that he had earned the backup kicking spot.
“There’s no question that Ndamukong is our backup field goal kicker,” then-Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said at the time. “He’s done it in practice. We have a lot of confidence that he could kick it.”
Unfortunately for the Lions, Suh’s kick hit the upright and bounced out. The miss by Suh definitely stung a little bit because the Lions ended up losing, 23-20, in overtime.
During the Lions’ regular-season finale in 2014, cameras caught Suh stepping on the ankle of Aaron Rodgers, who was playing for the Packers at the time (you can see the full play here).
Suh was hit with a one-game suspension for his actions, but after an appeal, the suspension was tossed out and he ended up getting fined $70,000. Although Suh didn’t get suspended for stepping on Rodgers, Suh did get suspended for stepping on a Packers player in 2011.
2019: Suh gets revenge on the Rams
Suh spent the 2018 season with the Los Angeles Rams, but he decided to leave after just one year. In 2019, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he got an early shot at revenge when the Bucs faced the Rams in Week 4. With 1:17 left to play, the Bucs were hanging on for dear life: They were leading 48-40, but the Rams had driven into Tampa Bay territory. On a first-down play from Tampa’s 46-yard line, Jared Goff fumbled after taking a huge hit from Shaq Barrett, and not only did Suh recover the ball, but he rumbled 37 yards for the longest touchdown of his career.
The was one of two fumble return touchdowns that Suh scored in 2019, which tied a Buccaneers franchise record.
Suh earned one Super Bowl ring in his career and that came in 2020 with the Buccaneers. Suh did his part to earn the ring by beating up on Patrick Mahomes. With the Bucs up 31-9 in the fourth quarter, Suh sacked Mahomes 1.5 times on the same drive with the Chiefs losing at least eight yards on each play. The second sack, which he shared with Cam Gill, came on a vicious hit that caused Mahomes to fumble.
The Chiefs lost 13 yards on the play, and the sack effectively killed any chance Kansas City might have had at a last-gasp comeback attempt.
Suh ended up playing two more seasons after the Bucs’ Super Bowl win. If you want the full story on his retirement, we’ve got that here.
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Author: John Breech
July 14, 2025 | 12:46 pm
