Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh may not consider himself a dirty player, but the NFL seems to have a different opinion. After taking down Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton last Friday and receiving a penalty, Suh has now apparently received a hefty fine as well. Suh tweeted this on Wednesday:
$20,000REALLY???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #NFL #BIGFAIL
If he was indeed fined, this is the third time the NFL has fined him in his brief career. The first fine was $7,500 for his takedown/attempted decapitation of Cleveland Browns quarterback Jake Delhomme in the preseason last August. At the time the fine seemed a bit low considering how vicious the hit was, but the NFL made up for it with a $15,000 fine for Suh's vicious tackle on Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler in the regular season.
The second fine seemed way too high considering a penalty didn't even appear to be necessary. All Suh did was tackle Cutler -- a ball carrier at the time -- from behind. It was a big hit, but if Cutler was a running back I doubt the NFL would have done anything.
Suh probably is deserving of a fine for his hit on Dalton, but $20,000 seems like a bit much. The NFL apparently isn't worried about the specific hit, though. At this point it looks like the league simply views this as Suh's third offense, which is too bad considering how weak the Cutler thing was. Now Suh is going to have to worry about an even bigger fine the next time he does something -- legal or illegal -- to a quarterback.