'Thank You, Legend': Super Bowl Winner & Cornhusker Great Retires

By Peter Mann

Five-times national college champions, Nebraska Cornhuskers, summed it up perfectly over the weekend with three simple words. As a defensive lineman for the Cornhuskers, Oregon-native, Ndamukong Suh became a star and paved his path into the NFL. Now, having officially announced his retirement from the game, his alma mater simply said, “Thank you, legend.”

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Thirteen seasons in pro football, and five seasons in college, dating back to 2005, is the perfect time in which to walk away, but there’s also a reason behind his decision to do so, one which he mentioned in his retirement statement.

In making the announcement on 15 July 2025, it brings full circle twelve months for Suh, following the loss of his father Michael, also an athlete, who played semi-professional ‘soccer’ in Germany, and for the Cameroon national team.

Suh Snr was a mechanical engineer by trade, whilst Jnr, he earned a degree in Construction Management during his time in Nebraska, but he excelled on the played field, quite a bit in fact, claiming numerous individual awards in the college game, and going all the way to the top in the pro game.

It was to be, in Suh’s words, the reason for stepping away from America’s Game

“Before he passed, he gave me one final piece of advice, “It’s time to let football go. You’ve done everything you set out to do, Now it’s time for the next chapter.”

“That conversation stayed with me. So today, one year later, I’m honoring that wish.”

And so he does; Suh walks away a legend of the game, a five-time all pro, a super bowl ring, and countless, individual awards.

College Football

An athlete in high school, in Portland, Oregon, Suh played football, basketball, soccer, and track and field, it was perhaps obvious then that this kid had a future, in whatever sport he’d chose to make a living in.

It would be football that would win out, and prior to his college recruitment selection, Suh was ranked as the sixth best defensive tackle in the United States, going on to take in visits to Nebraska, Mississippi State (Bulldogs), Oregon State (Beavers), Miami (Hurricanes), and California (Golden Bears), committing with Big Red in mid-January, 2005.

That is more than twenty years ago now, and Suh’s life instantly changed, well once he’d overcome injury in his freshman year, requiring knee surgery just two games in; over the next four years though he’d go on to make the position his own, starting 38 from 55 games overall, and was an ever-present in his final two seasons, claiming the 2008 Gator Bowl (26-21 vs. Clemson Tigers), and the 2009 Holiday Bowl (33-0 vs. Arizona Wildcats), narrowly losing out in the Big 12 Championship Game (12-13 to Texas Longhorns).

Team and individual honours were plentiful for Suh and the Cornhuskers during his spell in Nebraska, a list of which is endless to say the least and which included being names the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and a unanimous, first-team All-American.

In the Heisman Trophy, he finished in fourth place, accumulating an impressive 815 points, the most by a fourth-placed finisher in the awards history, whilst also becoming the first defensive player to be awarded the AP (Associated Press College Football) Player of the Year, everyone before or since have been quarterbacks, with the odd running back or wide receiver – Travis Hunter (Colorado Buffaloes/Jacksonville Jaguars) was the 2024 recipient. 

Pro Football

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Suh was hugely favourited in the 2010 NFL Draft and, after QB Sam Bradford was picked up by St Louis Rams, from Oklahoma Sooners, Ndamukong Suh was afforded the hour of being the second pick, drafted by Detroit Lions, then under the guidance of a future SB winner in Jim Schwartz, in what was Schwartz’s only Head Coach position (2009-13).

Suh would appear for five, NFL franchises, during a seven-year spell in pro football, also donning the jersey of Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Philadelphia Eagles, where his final appearance, on 8 January 2023, came in the Eagles’ 22-16 win at Lincoln Financial Field, against New York Giants, as the Eagles went on to compete in SB LVII (losing 38-35 to Kansas City Chiefs). 

Overall, he’d appear 214 times in the NFL, and of those thirteen seasons, seven would see him appear in the postseason also, making fifteen of those appearances, with each of the franchises he turned out for – Lions (2), Dolphins (1), Rams (3), Buccaneers (6), Eagles (3).

On five occasions Suh would be picked for the Pro Bowl (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016), and was a three-times First Team All-Pro (2010, 2013, 2014), his debut season in the pro league, 2010, also saw him claim the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, coincidentally first claimed by another Lion, cornerback Lem Barney, way back in 1967.  

Suh’s first sack came against Chicago Bears’ QB, Jay Cutler (12 September 2010), whilst his first and only interception came a month later on, of all players, Sam Bradford (10 October 2010). A busy start to life in the NFL would also see Suh claim his first TD shortly after, on Halloween, in the 37-25 win against the visiting Washington Redskins.

It was the last score of the contest, the Lions up 31-25 heading towards the final ninety seconds, when Suh collected a 17yd defensive fumble recovery from then Bears QB, Rex Grossman.

That 2010 season would see Suh take home a plethora of individual, rookie of the season awards, including the like of Sporting News, Pro Football Weekly, and Pro Football Writers of America, to name a few.

It was to be a stellar start to a career that, although successful, opposing players really didn’t enjoy coming up against, due to aggressiveness, at one point even being named the league’s ‘dirtiest player.’

In 2015 the Dolphins made him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history, signing Suh to a then, six-year, $114 million contract, and finished his first season in Miami ranked fortieth on the list of NFL Top 100 Players of 2016; the next two season would see him slip to fist 55 (2017) and 61 (2018), before being released to free up the Dolphins salary cap in March 2018.

A season in LA, with the Rams, saw Suh appear in his first Championship Game, losing SB LIII against New England Patriots, followed by three seasons in Tampa Bay, with the Buccaneers, with whom he played in, and won, SB LV, against Kansas City Chiefs; then, in 2022, he signed for a season, officially his last playing, with the Eagles, helping them to reach SB LVII, where they lost to the Chiefs.

The Super Bowl

Three times Ndamukong Suh was involved in a roster that made it to the big one, the Super Bowl, and in 2020, just a few years ago, he helped Bruce Arians and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to an impressive, 31-9 success over Kansas City Chiefs, at the Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida (7 February 2021).

It was to be a game that, deep in the pandemic, would see a limited capacity of just 25,000 fans, the least attended since that of the Chicago Bears 37 New York Giants 9, December 1941 game, which had less than 13,500 (due to WWII).

Here though, in Tampa, Suh would line up alongside fellow defensive players, Rakeem Nunez-Roches (NT), Jason Pierre-Paul (OLB), Devin White (ILB), Lavonte David (ILB, at Nebraska 2010-11), Shaquil Barrett (OLB), Carlton Davis (CB), Jamel Dean (CB), Sean Murphy-Bunting (CB), Jordan Whitehead (S), and Antonie Winfield Jnr (S).

The game would be one in which Suh would register 1.5 sacks on a certain Chiefs QB, Patrick Mahomes, to top off his best season on-the-field, having also reached the big one two years previous, with the LA Rams, where he was part of Sean McVay’s starting line-up in the 13-3 shut-down by New England Patriots, at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia.

Also, although he didn’t start in the Championship Game, Suh was also in the 2022 showpiece, SB LVII, as the Eagles were downed 38-35 against Kansas City Chiefs, some measure of revenge if you will, for Mahomes on Suh.

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Selective career stats for Suh saw 600 total tackles, of which 392 were solo and 208 assist tackles, 71.5 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, and 9 fumbles received (ESPN)

Sky Sports NFL Analyst, Phoebe Schecter (@Phoebe_Schecter), led the tributes to the news of Suh’s retirement, she saying: “Congratulations on a phenomenal career! You truly changed the game for defensive linemen.

“It’s been a privilege to get to know you off the field and this is just the beginning.”

NFL Draft Analyst, Anthony Russo (@Anthony_Russo97), paid a lengthy tribute when saying: “I was 14 years old when Ndamukong Suh had his unreal *Heisman deserving) senior season.

“I had been watching some pro and college football, beginning my Jets fandom as they actually got good, but I had never seen a player dominate like him. His power and aggression were captivating to watch.

“I rooted for him as he dominated in Detroit and still enjoyed watching even as he played for division rival Miami.

“I credit Ndamukong Suh as being one of the players that cemented my love for the game of football all those years ago. You didn’t have to be a quarterback to leave your mark. Sometimes you could be a quarterback destroyer.”

And Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet), National Insider for NFL Network and NFL.com, said: “A truly dominant player in his prime, Suh officially steps away.” 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom Suh spent two legendary seasons in 2021 and 2022 (see above) simply said: “Congrats on a legendary career, Ndamukong Suh!”

We now all wait with anticipation for whatever may be next for the legendary SUUUUUUUUUUUH

One final message, from one Cornhusker fan, to a legend of the game, thank you, and GO BIG RED

PETER MANN

NFL ANALYST

PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter

 
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