No. 93: Ndamukong Suh

This is the latest post for an ongoing media project — SoCal Sports History 101: The Prime Numbers from 00 to 99 that Uniformly, Uniquely and Unapologetically Reveal The Narrative of Our Region’s Athletic Heritage.  Pick a number and highlight an athlete — person, place or thing — most obviously connected to it by fame and fortune, someone who isn’t so obvious, and then take a deeper dive into the most interesting story tied to it. It’s a combination of star power, achievement, longevity, notoriety, and, above all, what makes that athlete so Southern California. Quirkiness and notoriety factor in. And it should open itself to more discussion and debate — which is what sports is best at doing.

The most obvious choices for No. 93:
= Ndamukong Suh, Los Angeles Rams
= Greg Townsend, Los Angeles Raiders

The most interesting story for No. 93:
Ndamukong Suh, Los Angeles Rams nose tackle (2018)
Southern California map pinpoints:
Inglewood (SoFi Stadium)

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For all the unnecessary roughness during a 13-year NFL career — the down-low, scandalized way he treated opposing players — Ndamukong Suh never got sued.

Maybe the league’s witness protection program wasn’t all that great. Or, maybe because, deep down, he was really a super nice guy whose actions off the field spoke louder than his red-flag existence on the gridiron of employment?

In nearly 200 regular season games, including three Super Bowls, another handful of playoff appearances, five times added to a Pro Bowl squad, and a handful of exhibition games where rules still applied, the 6-foot-4, 313-pound Suh leveraged his abilities to earn about $163 million in salary. That included $14 million that the Los Angeles Rams gave him to join their organization in 2018, a strategic move to free up the often double-teamed All Pro defensive end Aaron Donald.

Now subtract more than $400,000 for all the fines and lost pay checks Suh incurred.

“Some may say (his penalty payments were) a bargain to pay in light of what he had earned — all the intimidation that came from his reputation,” USA Today columnist Mike Freeman wrote when Suh, in a rather poignant social media post, announced in July of 2025 he was officially retired from the NFL at age 38.

The timing of his walking away from pro football came on the anniversary of his father’s death. Michael Suh was from the central African country of Cameroon, and played some semi-pro soccer. His mother, Bernadette, was an elementary school teacher born in Jamaica. They lived in Oregon.

Ndamukong, which means “House of Spears” in the Ngemba language of Cameroon, also had a great grandfather also named Ndamukong Suh, who stood 7-foot-3. That is worth having on a resume.

In September of 2014, ESPN the Magazine ran a piece: “What Drives One of the Game’s Smartest Players to also be one of the Dirtiest? Let’s Just Say it’s Complicated — The Great Unknown.”

It included: “(Suh) likes to surprise people, finding immense enjoyment in debunking the notion that he’s a thickheaded hit man. On several occasions, people in Suh’s camp make a point of saying that he didn’t get his degree (at Nebraska) in basket weaving or, say, communications. He matriculated through a rigorous engineering program. …

“Some people believe that Suh’s big, bad image started out as a way to get noticed. … His peers, for the most part, don’t seem to have a problem with him. Walk into the locker room in Green Bay or Chicago and they’ll say they admire Suh’s intensity. They’ll say he plays the game the way it should be played, going all out on every down. … The people in Suh’s circle … know he has plenty of bad PR and are eager to get across their belief that Suh, away from the public eye, is just a decent regular fella.”

Friends with Warren Buffett, Suh planned ahead for his business career. He rewarded those from his foundation. He has hosted the “No Free Lunch” podcast to talk about finances and security in a career.

But a background check also finds that Suh, in a 2012 Sporting News survey of some 103 players asked to anonymously vote, was declared the dirtiest player in the NFL. Suh was also public enemy No. 1 in ’21. The Detroit Free Press noted one player’s comment: “I mean, the step-on and the choke and the kick and the arm bar. Enough said, right?”

Also in 2012, Suh was voted the “least liked NFL player” in a survey of fans conducted by Nielsen and E-Poll Market Research.

“Suh was in many ways a representative of the NFL before it became the league we see now,” Freeman wrote. “He was an old-school football dude in a 21st-century era. If there was a player today who embodied the clotheslining, cheap-shotting, step-on-a-player’s leg while they’re down era of the 1970s, it was Suh.”

The Rams got a taste of that experience in Week 13 of the ‘18 NFL season.

At 10-1, coming off a bye week, the Rams traveled to Detroit — the city where Suh’s NFL career started. The Lions drafted him No. 2 overall in 2010 and gave him an $68 million deal, because Suh, wearing No. 93 at the University of Nebraska, was the first defensive tackle in 25 years invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony, and finished fourth in the voting. He won the Bronco Nagurski Trophy (top defensive player in nation), Lombardi Award (top collegiate lineman or linebacker), Chuck Benarik Award (top defensive player) and Outland Trophy. He was also the 2009 Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, the first time in history someone on the defensive player won it.

After five seasons in Detroit, Suh went to Miami, which paid him $114 million over six years, making him the highest paid defensive player in NFL history. But the Dolphins eventually decided to cut him for salary reasons. Suh, with five Pro Bowl appearances in his first seven seasons, decide to come to the Rams, convinced he was a missing piece to a playoff run rather than the focus of unneeded attention.

in March of 2018, over a sushi dinner at Nobu in Malibu, Suh was coddled by the Rams brain trust — including owner Stan Kroenke — about the idea of becoming a supporting player, alongside Aaron Donald, which would help the Rams a team that could go deep into the playoffs. Suh had been in just three playoff games prior to ’18, never advancing past the divisional round.

Ted Rath, the Rams’ strength coach, had an inside voice with Suh, having worked with him in Miami and Detroit. Rath became the go-between for Rams head coach Sean McVay as Suh also needed to buy into playing the nose tackle position in a 3-4 scheme.

“I was really impressed with Ndamukong to talk about a series of subjects,” said McVay. “You know, I’m a pretty simple-minded guy. I can talk about football. But that’s about it. He knew about Screaming Eagle (a winery owned by Kroenke). He knew about some of the real estate ventures he had been in on. He knew about Arsenal (the Premier League soccer team Kroenke owned), the (Denver) Nuggets and (Colorado) Avalanche …”

Said Kevin Demoff, the Rams VP of operations: “Kroenke was the closer.”

Also at the restaurant that night, Chris Rock, David Spade and James Cordon came by to greet Suh.

“One of my ultimate goals, one of the reasons I signed here, was to have an opportunity to play in the postseason,” said Suh, who turned down larger offers from Tennessee and the New York Jets to join the Rams. “I felt like this team had some of the right pieces, and I would be good addition to it.”

Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press wrote in December of 2018: “It made sense Suh would end up in L.A. After all, it’s where people go to reinvent themselves.”

During that Rams’ 30-16 win at Detroit, which clinched the NFC West title, Suh made six tackles, but he was also flagged with two personal fouls, “just for old time’s sake,” wrote the Detroit Free Press’ Jeff Siedel. One of them was when Suh threw Lions running back Zach Zenner to the turf with a horse-collar tackle, “which might be technically true, by rule, but I don’t think it was terribly malicious or violent,” Siedel continued. Suh’s other personal foul was a late hit on Lions quarterback Matt Stafford in the fourth quarter. The next day, Suh was fined $20,054 for the Zenner tackle.

By the end of that season, those kind of penalties seemed like collateral damage. Suh had 59 tackles and 4.5 sacks — and Donald led the NFL with 20.5 sacks, also with 59 tackles.

In the NFC Divisional Round win over Dallas, Suh had four tackles and helped shut down the Cowboys’ running game. In the NFC title game win at New Orleans, Suh had four tackles and 1.5 sacks in the controversial 26-23 overtime win. 

Now in his first championship game, Suh and the Rams nearly pulled off a title in Super Bowl LIII — it wasn’t for lack of defense. In a 13-3 loss to 41-year-old Tom Brady and New England, Suh had one of three quarterback hits in the game to go with two tackles.

That was it in L.A. for Suh. But he wasn’t forgotten.

The next year, he was in Tampa Bay. In a Week 4 Bucs’ 54-40 win over his former team, the Rams, then still at the Coliseum, Suh picked up a fumble by Rams quarterback Jarred Goff (who had thrown for 517 yards) and ran it back 37 yards for a touchdown with 1:08 to play and secure the win.

Suh won a Super Bowl two seasons later with Brady in Tampa Bay. In his final season of 2022, Suh played in Super Bowl LVII with Philadelphia. 

It had been rumored that Suh was considering a return to the Rams in ’22. But when he called it a career, he logged 603 tackles (293 solo, 73 off run-or-pass stuffs) and 71.5 sacks, near the top 100 in NFL history.

Also, Suh was flagged 115 times (with 102 accepted). About one-third of those penalties were major (61 were offside or neutral zone infractions). He had 33 penalties that resulted in opponents’ first downs. No other defensive lineman is close.

“You can’t look at stats when it comes to Suh,” said former Dolphins teammate Andre Branch, “because he does all the dirty work … he eats up the blocks.”

“Ndamukong Suh is going to make your life suck for 60 minutes,” said Green Bay Pro Bowl defensive lineman Mike Daniels, “and that is why I love watching him play — he runs right through guys.”

Suh is often described him as kind, decent, thoughtful and a great teammate or friend, contrasting his public on-field image.

He was recognized as the most charitable athlete and the sixth most charitable celebrity by The Giving Back Fund for his significant donations, including $2.6 million to the University of Nebraska.

He and his family have an investment vehicle “House of Spears Management.”

Suh did a piece for the New York Times in 2025 admitting: “My harshness in a players-only meeting taught me the value of emotional intelligence.”

And, for the record, Suh has actually been sued. And there was a football-related element to it.

In early December of 2011, back in his Portland-area home, Suh was sued for more than $1 million by a passenger in his car claiming negligence, recklessness and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She said Suh lied to 911 operators, then offered her money to stay silent. It was settled out of court for $130,000.

The incident occurred as Suh, in Year 2 of his NFL career, had been serving a two-game suspension from the prior Detroit Lions’ traditional Thanksgiving Day game. During the third quarter of a 27-15 loss to Green Bay, Suh lifted up his right knee and forcibly stepped on the right arm of Packers offensive guard Evan Dietrich-Smith. On the same play, Suh shoved Dietrich-Smith’s helmet toward the turf three times while separating himself from him on the ground. It cost him $165,000 in lost wages.

Before his second pro season ended, Suh had been flagged for nine personal fouls, the most of any player in the league during that time. In the first four seasons, Suh already surpassed $200,000 for four separate on-field violations, including $100,000 alone for a low block Suh delivered against Minnesota offensive lineman John Sullivan in the 2013 season opener. Suh’s illegal block came as teammate DeAndre Levy was returning an interception for a touchdown, then nullified by Suh’s penalty. Later that season, a tackle of Cleveland quarterback Brandon Weeden drew a $31,500 fine, later rescinded. During a loss against Tampa Bay, Suh was fined $7,875 for performing a throat-slashing gesture.

Some other famous Suh faux pas on the field of play:

= Third season 2012: Again on Thanksgiving, Suh kicked Houston quarterback Matt Schaub in the ground and got a $30,000 fine. That was nearly double the mandated fine for a second offense.

= Fifth season 2014: In the last game of the regular season, Suh got a one-game suspension for stepping on the calf of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Suh told the NFL he had his back to Rodgers and and because his feet were cold from the frosty weather, he couldn’t tell the difference between Rodgers and the turf. The NFL didn’t agree. Suh then opted for a $70,000 fine so he could play in the wild-card playoff contest the next week against Dallas.

= Sixth season 2015: Now with Miami (six-year, $114 million deal), Suh was called out for appearing to try to knock the helmet of Washington’s Alfred Morris with his knee when Morris was on the ground. The NFL declined to fine or discipline him.

= Eighth season 2017: Two unnecessary roughness penalties in a Week 8 game against Baltimore included an attempt to choke Ravens quarterback Ryan Mallett and shove him. No penalty assessed.

And, in the end, they were sizing him up for a gold-colored blazer to wear for a Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.

“To me, he is a Hall of Famer,” USA Today’s Freeman concluded his column after Suh’s retirement post. “And no, the cheap shot stuff shouldn’t keep him out. It should be noted, and debated, but he was, without question, one of the great defensive players of his era. That’s the bottom line in making that type of decision.

“I have to tell you something else about Suh. Just one last thing. Whenever I criticized Suh for his questionable play, and I mean every time, I would get calls or emails from teammates or other people who knew him. They would say, yes, some of what he did on the field was dirty, but off of it, he was kind, decent and a great teammate or friend.”

Who else wore No. 93 in SoCal sports history? Make a case for:

Greg Townsend, Los Angeles Raiders defensive end, linebacker, defensive tackle, nose tackle (1983 to 1993):

The 6-foot-3, 264-pounder out of Dominguez High in Compton spent two years at Long Beach City College before he was the fourth-round pick by the L.A. Raiders in 1983 out of Texas Christian University. As Townsend would become the franchise’s all-time leader in sacks with 107.5 — and the only player with more than 100 sacks, which includes his Hall of Fame teammate Howie Long (who had 84). Townsend also had 25 forced fumbles and 46 passes defensed.

In Townsend’s third career game, he scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery on a Monday Night game in Miami.

“We’re running a blitz against Miami and the quarterback fumbled. I picked the ball up and all of a sudden, the whole world goes into slow motion,” said Townsend. ““(Linebacker) Ted Hendricks is yelling at me to follow him, but everything seems to be moving so slow. I’m running and running with the ball and I’m trying to get to the goal line. Guys are everywhere. I ended up scoring – it was great. Everybody’s congratulating the coaches and all. That’s when I knew I could play because everybody had accepted me.”

The next game, he had a safety and two sacks against Denver. He had three sacks against the New York Giants in late November. He had a sack in all three post-season Raider wins, including Super Bowl XVIII.

His 10.5 regular-season sacks as a rookie came without ever starting one game — the defensive front line was Long, Reggie Kinlaw, Lyle Alzado with four linebackers. He had 27.5 sacks in his first three seasons without ever starting. It was because Townsend was called in for passing downs. His sack totals were often a third of his total tackles.

Long has argued that “if you put Greg Townsend’s 10½ sacks (as a rookie) in a four-man line situation, playing full time, you’re talking about a 25-sack, 20-holding-penalties player.” Townsend, moved to outside linebacker for the 1989 season, had 10 or more sacks 10 times in his 13-year career, which included 102 starts in 190 games, including coming out of retirement to play for the Raiders back in Oakland at age 36 in 1977. By the AV statistical category on Pro Football-Reference.come, Townsend was the Raiders’ top valued player in 1990, the first of his two Pro Bowl seasons. Townsend’s son, Greg Jr., played defensive end at USC (2011 to 2015) also wearing No. 93. The 6-foot-3, 275 pound defensive lineman out of Beverly Hills High signed as a free agent with the Oakland Raiders.

Anyone else worth nominating?