Ndamukong Suh fires back at ‘Rodney’ White, Falcons (UPDATED)
Here's Ndamukong Suh grabbing Matt Ryan's facemask, not that there's anything wrong with that.
(UPDATED: 10:40 p.m. with White comments.)
Please excuse Ndamukong Suh if he is not well-versed in what’s considered acceptable behavior for an NFL player. Turns out, he may not even know the names of many NFL players.
Suh, the Detroit Lions’ defensive tackle who reportedly taunted injured Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan Sunday, fired back Monday, telling Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press: “Do I need Rodney White’s respect? No. Leave it at that.”
In fairness to Suh, he’s right. He doesn’t need Rodney White’s respect, whoever Rodney White is. The assumption is he doesn’t care about earning Roddy White’s respect, either.
This all started Sunday when White,Todd McClure and other Falcons said they heard Suh, Cliff Avril and possibly other Detroit linemen taunting Ryan when he was lying on the field. One of White’s comments: “Like 92 [Avril] was kicking [Ryan’s] feet, saying, ‘Get him off the field.’ We don’t do stuff like that. We don’t rally over guys when they get hurt. It was just inappropriate behavior. I mean, [Suh said] ‘Get the cart’? Are you serious? Come on. When you compete, you never want to see a guy get hurt.”
Neither Avril nor Suh were available for comment after the game. Avril took to Twitter Sunday night to deny the accusations: “Come on. I’m not in the business of hurting not one guy on the field… I would never taunt anyone on an injury.”
Suh’s comments Monday came from Burkett’s Twitter site. He reaffirmed what most know — that he doesn’t seem to care what anybody thinks about him — and he also took a shot at Falcons’ offensive linemen. The comments:
• Referring to the fact Ryan tripped over Falcons tackle Will Svitek: “To me it’s karma. For all the bad stuff they’ve done in the past, their offensive lineman hurt their own QB. So I’ll leave it at that”
• His quasi-denial: “I’m not even near their quarterback so how am I going to trash talk somebody that has a medical staff that’s all around him?”
• The slap: “Do I need Rodney White’s respect? No. Leave it at that.”
• He also called it, “He said/she said.” As Burkett noted, Suh never identified the “she.”
UPDATE: Here are some comments from White to the NFL Network, via ProFootballTalk.com:
“I mean I don’t really have much to say about what [Ndamukong Suh] said. I just know he’s going to say whatever he wants to say, but we know what they said. We were standing right there in the huddle, we saw when he went down and that’s before the medical staff got there that they said was in front of the play. . . .
“I know Suh said what he said. He said, ‘Go get the cart for him, get him out of here.’ He knows he said that and we’re not going to go back and forth about what he said-she said. And then he’s going to say it was karma for what we’ve done in the past when their quarterback gets hurt on the last play of the game and they have an MRI today.”
OK, this is a he said/he said. But Suh had been gaining a negative reputation in the league even before Sunday. So if this is a credibility contest, he’s probably going to lose.
By Jeff Schultz
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407 comments Add your comment
Rodney Allen Rippy
October 24th, 2011
5:58 pm
That didn’t hurt my feelings, either.
kerryb
October 24th, 2011
5:58 pm
At first I thought Delmas’s hit on Ovie was dirty then they showed him on one knee saying a prayer for him so I dont think it was. He lunged from his knees off the ground and tried to tackle him. Where he lunged just happened to catch Ovie on the side of the knee as he was about to go by him.
Double Standard
October 24th, 2011
6:01 pm
Why is this news on AJC.com when the Packers complained about all of the Falcon dirty hits after that game? The Packer quotes were headlined on national outlets like ESPN and NFL.com yet nary a word on AJC. I asked in a posting and D-Led quickly dismissed it, saying that people “complain about that stuff, like playing through the whistle, all of the time.” Yet suddenly Suh or some other Lion allegedly says something about Ryan and it’s a huge news event? I wouldn’t mind all of this coverage if AJC and D-Led had actually acknowledged the Packer complaints instead of completely ignoring them.
Jeff Schultz
October 24th, 2011
6:02 pm
SWAT Native — Lions’ lack of a running game leads me to wonder if they’ll make the playoffs. Obviously would have to be as a wild card since Green Bay’s winning that division.
Jeff Schultz
October 24th, 2011
6:04 pm
Supes — “If Harvey Dahl was still a Falcon in yesterday’s game he would have been thrown out or had some 15 yard penalties at some point, he didn’t take crap from anyone …” <<<< You got that right. Falcons have missed Dahl this season.
Timbo
October 24th, 2011
6:04 pm
23-16 Suh…on your home turf. Suck it.
ryan
October 24th, 2011
6:04 pm
All that matters is that we beat them wither there was taunting or not .
Timbo
October 24th, 2011
6:05 pm
Dahl would have gone after Suh’s knees.
Nudukndfdfadfdsfsdfd Suh
October 24th, 2011
6:05 pm
Scoreboard!
ryan
October 24th, 2011
6:06 pm
WOO WOO WOO You Know IT Suh .
Jeff Schultz
October 24th, 2011
6:06 pm
Benjamin — I agree — I would think there is “video evidence” of what did or didn’t happen, but I’m not sure that the NFL really cares about this. Obviously there’s no audio evidence.
dirtyfalconplayers
October 24th, 2011
6:06 pm
Wow!!!How fast do yall forget that the Packers complained about the dirty hits yall had after the whistle blew.I’ve looked at the replay and see nothing that LOUD MOUTH RODNEY WHITE was talking about. I think the Falcons are just trying to get noticed.The Falcons are making enemies around the league with lies dirty playing.Oh breaking news now RODNEY WHITE is saying no one kicked his quaterback. GET YOUR STORY RIGHT!!!!
Jeff Schultz
October 24th, 2011
6:07 pm
Kerryb — “At first I thought Delmas’s hit on Ovie was dirty then they showed him on one knee saying a prayer for him so I dont think it was….”<<<< Exactly.
Raggy Doll
October 24th, 2011
6:07 pm
Just call Suh “Suhie Pig”.
Good One
October 24th, 2011
6:07 pm
Lol what a dumb@ss,
Jeff Schultz
October 24th, 2011
6:09 pm
Double Standard — I really think this is less about comments about “dirty hits” — and D-Led is correct, you can find that in almost every locker room after almost every NFL game — than it is about what reportedly was said to Ryan while he was down. That’s the bigger issue. So there’s no double standard here. We’ve certainly reported at the AJC in the past about others accusing Dahl/Clabo for being dirty. And if any opposing player wants to mouth off after a game, I’ll be happy to give him a forum.
Mr Charlie
October 24th, 2011
6:12 pm
Are these guys 3rd graders? How cares?
Raggy Doll
October 24th, 2011
6:12 pm
What is the Lions head coach’s thoughts on this ? He needs to control his idiot players.
Raggy Doll
October 24th, 2011
6:14 pm
You know somebody on the field was “miked up”. NFL just covering it up.
"Chef" Tim Dix
October 24th, 2011
6:18 pm
“Ray Lewis killed a man”, the NFL barometer for bad guys. How do you top that?
SWAT Native
October 24th, 2011
6:19 pm
@ Jeff – I think the Lions have a decent shot at a wild card. I don’t think a wild card will come out of fthe NFC East or West, and I think they could finish ahead of the Bears. It depends on whether three teams can come out of the South, and remember, the Lions will hold a tie breaker over the Bucs.
Ray Rays
October 24th, 2011
6:19 pm
Dem refroos needs ta gets aholt of dey game. Dey be halvesteppin an fronttin scrate up wiff dey nutts hangin. Das alls I gots ta say.
richie
October 24th, 2011
6:20 pm
all that matters is that Matt is OK and the falcons won the game.
CGD..
October 24th, 2011
6:21 pm
Dunta is a dirty player? Why are Falcan Fanatics so upset when the table has turned?
Life is a 2 way street..It kinda balances out… Somebody upstairs planned it like that…
Ryan hurt his knee, but if it were not for the left leg brace, he would have been done for the season! Whew…Atlanta dodged a huge bullet!!
BTW ICE is slowly melting, QB Rating sliding to 63.1 and dropping..Run Turner run!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey thanks for the compliment Genius^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ lmbo
liberalefty
October 24th, 2011
6:21 pm
much ado about nothing, the falcons won thats all that matters, oh that and the fact that matty ice is healthy
Chris Redman
October 24th, 2011
6:22 pm
So your saying I couldn’t get the job done ?
Triple Lindy
October 24th, 2011
6:23 pm
If it’s a “he said/she said” situation, I’ll take Rodney’s word over Sue’s.
Chris Redman
October 24th, 2011
6:23 pm
Me & “Rodney” White have great chemistry…
Chris Redman
October 24th, 2011
6:25 pm
Well said Ray, I think…
Barry Sanders
October 24th, 2011
6:26 pm
Roddy White was upset because he crapped his leotards….again. What kind of NFL players go “crying to the teacher”? You want to get payback, do it on the field with a pancake block or something similar. Suh and Avril were nowhere near Ryan when he was on the ground. If Roddy and his posse were eavesdropping, shame on them. Plus, is “Get a cart” all that inflammatory?
Mr Charlie
October 24th, 2011
6:29 pm
Ever listen to the lyrics of “Me and Julio down by the school yard?” What is that all about?
Andrew Young
October 24th, 2011
6:32 pm
LOL…people bashing Detroit when Atlanta is no Shangrila itself. It’s right there with Detroit: http://www.morganquitno.com/cit05pop.htm#CITIES
Scary Cat
October 24th, 2011
6:34 pm
Leave us alone you big ol bully!
Mr Charlie
October 24th, 2011
6:35 pm
Andrew, gotta agree, Atlanta is “Detroit of the south”.
falconsfan forever
October 24th, 2011
6:35 pm
Well boys will be boys move on.The game is over we won.There were cheap shots on both sides.It’s football folks not ring around the roses.
CGD..
October 24th, 2011
6:37 pm
Mr. Redman may get some playing time real soon, the fact that Ryan is getting crushed out there week after the week.. All of those hits are cumulative.. His body is keeping tabs….Then one day like Chris Miller goes to plant and BOOM……………………..Down goes Frazier, blows out his knee out there in space by his lonesome! Lets hope history does not repeat itself???????
DrMaryb can add her expertise….
Arno
October 24th, 2011
6:37 pm
If Ryan throws a 46 yard completion after sombody says, “go get a cart,” then I hope he gets taunted every single play.
Nhdnioasiudbvaeyog Suh
October 24th, 2011
6:37 pm
:’(
GOP Cannon
October 24th, 2011
6:38 pm
If Shu is a poor sportsman and everyone in the league knows it. He may not care now, but come free agency time he may wish that he had a better reputation… Owners, GM’s and Coaches are not looking to add a bad attitude big mouth to their clubs.
Mr Charlie
October 24th, 2011
6:39 pm
Arno, loved the way Ryan came back in and threw that “noodle” pass.
djthescorpian
October 24th, 2011
6:41 pm
After looking at the rest of the NFL shedule, and after further reconsideration-not withstanding a complete collapse, I see the Falcons making a 7 game run on the “W” side. 11-3 going with two games to play for home field.
Take your L and STFU
October 24th, 2011
6:42 pm
Lions talk tough for team whose best players are made of glass. Schwartz got his manhood snatched by Harbaugh last week and he looked like he wanted to cry in the postgame presser after yesterday’s game.
CGD..
October 24th, 2011
6:44 pm
Hey Roddy go talk to True Fal-con Fanatic, he’ll listen to ya Ronda!
The rest of us could care freaking less……………………………………..Shut the____up and play ball!
AlanFalcon
October 24th, 2011
6:45 pm
Mike Smith needs to step up to the plate and back his players even if he doesn’t stand up for himself and the rude hand shake from Jim Schwartz the Lions coach who has an attitude problem that spills over after games.
Kudo’s to Todd and Roddy for speaking up and standing up for Matt and to Matt for showing the Lions defense that he is a very capable qb and can handle pain.
Wake up Smitty, back your players, they for sure have your back.
3 year old
October 24th, 2011
6:46 pm
You are all a bunch of 3 year olds. Get a f’in life, losers.
Mr Charlie
October 24th, 2011
6:46 pm
I love the Falcons, but I think Roddy White needs to take he problem to Occupy Atlanta and put that on the list of grievances on what is wrong with the universe.
Joe
October 24th, 2011
6:46 pm
Well, they aren’t playing chess. This is football. Get over it.
CGD..
October 24th, 2011
6:47 pm
Falcons, have 6 homes games out of last 9…That should favor them, if the wheels dont fall off….
Wont be a cake walk though with a QBR=63.1 and sliding….
Dennis
October 24th, 2011
6:50 pm
Falcons fan since their first game and a Nebraska grad. I’d always thought Suh was a beast on the field. but it appears he’s really a bastard instead. He will never have my respect again.
Reality Check
October 24th, 2011
6:51 pm
Lions were exposed these past couple of weeks. Double calvin, run it down their throats on defense, and they’ll fold faster than Superman on laundry day.