Breakfast with Ndamukong Suh

When a man the size of Ndamukong Suh tells you to do something, you do it. In this case, that means eating breakfast.

I had the opportunity to interact with Suh at a Subway restaurant in downtown Detroit this morning. He stopped by to promote Subway’s line of breakfast subs and take part in a skype chat with New York Giants’ defensive lineman Justin Tuck who was at the same type of event in Manhattan.

Ndamukong, or just plain Suh as he said he typically goes by, went behind the Subway counter to show us all that his skill set goes far beyond the football field. Suh’s sister was especially thrilled to see her brother behind the counter since she said that he has never had a “real” job.

With the sandwich making done we got a chance to sit down and talk football. Suh was gracious enough to answer our questions while we waited for Justin Tuck to arrive to the Subway in New York. I asked him if it felt good to get the ball in his hands after that interception. He smiled and said it did. Apparently Corey Williams gave him some grief after the game because Corey was able to take his interception back further than Ndamukong.

He said it would have been nice to take it to the house but he isn’t sure what kind of a dance he might break out into if that were to occur. Suh would leave that up to the moment to decide.

It was quite obvious that the Suh we see on the field and the Suh you meet off it are different people. He offered a quiet “thank you” to my congratulations on Sunday’s win as his huge right hand engulfed mine for a firm handshake. It was hard to imagine this was the same man that nearly decapitated Jake Delhomme. During his skype session with the New Yorkers, Suh was asked what he did with Delhomme’s head. Suh laughed and simply stated that he gave it back. See the video below for more from his chat session.

Lions fans are obviously glad to have Suh in town and it sounds like he is glad to be here. Suh mentioned a few spots around the metro area that enjoys to eat and he expressed the opinion that the Detroit area gets a bad wrap that it doesn’t deserve.

Suh had to take off to take part in an ESPN spot and Justin Tuck was late to his spot in New York because of traffic (go figure) so the two weren’t able to face each other over skype. The Detroit crowd was able to get some face time with Justin and he made it clear that they won’t be facing the same old Lions next weekend. He and the rest of his Giants teammates have a healthy respect for the playmakers the Lions have and won’t take the game lightly. Tuck wouldn’t commit to any game prediction other than that two teams will play and one team will end up with at least one point more than the other. There you have it, Justin Tuck guarantees there won’t be a tie!

I need to thank Ndamukong Suh (obviously), Don Povia and Dana Landry from Catalyst Public Relations for the invite, and the Subway folks for the food and hospitality. It was also nice to put a face to a name with fellow Lions bloggers Ty Schalter of The Lions in Winter and Al Beaton of The Wayne Fontes Experience. Both are great guys and worthy of your readership.