• Watch video of Ndamukong Suh at the Tuesday press conference:

LINCOLN — Ndamukong Suh's dance card was full.

ESPN was in town. Sports Illustrated. A phone interview with the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal?

“I didn't even know they had a sports section,'' Suh said as he traveled from one commitment to another Tuesday, his availability aided by the cancellation of his 12:30 p.m. class.

Everybody wants a piece of the Nebraska defensive tackle right now. Everybody's writing about him, a phenomenon partly triggered by his shining performance in a Thursday night ESPN game at Missouri (never underestimate the power of being the only game on TV).

Suh is even doing enough, and getting enough exposure, to revive the every-so-often debate of whether a defensive player should be considered for the Heisman Trophy.

To his credit, Suh looked more uncomfortable than excited with the attention Tuesday.

“You know, Suh's been getting great publicity for I don't know how long, and he's the most humble guy on the team,'' defensive tackle Jared Crick said. “None of this is going to get to his head.''

Here's one reason: This isn't the reason Suh came back for his senior season.

Suh says he didn't have football honors in mind when he bypassed the NFL draft to remain a Husker. His main intentions were to work on his education and help Nebraska do something more than finish 9-4.

As is best, the rest has just taken care of itself.

And people have noticed.

Bruce Feldman of ESPN The Magazine: “Suh is virtually unblockable, and he does things no other defensive tackle can.''

Andy Staples of SI.com: “A defensive tackle who leads his team in tackles, drops into coverage and picks off passes — he is every bit as outstanding as a 4,000-yard passer or an 1,800-yard back. The problem is that the average Heisman voter doesn't understand how much a dominant defensive tackle can change a game.''

Pat Forde of ESPN.com: “He might not possess all the greatness of the late Reggie White, but he sure does physically resemble him. ... Most impactful defensive player in the country right now.''

In addition, Suh has bagged several national defensive player of the week honors and stood out against Missouri with 26 scouts from 18 NFL teams in attendance. His stock might be at its highest with the draft six months away.

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini was careful Tuesday not to feed the hype, saying of the Mizzou game: “He did what we expected him to do.''

And if Suh needs any help staying grounded, his family has a way of doing it, too. His mom likes to critique his play, even with her limited knowledge of football.

Suh thought the criticism was coming when they talked last weekend, even though Bernadette Suh told him “good game.''

“She didn't outright say — but I know she wanted to say — ‘You could have done better,'” Suh said.

Suh will take that attitude into the Texas Tech game on Saturday. The 6-foot-4, 300-pounder has his own high standards and ideas of what he wants to get done.

All this Heisman talk is nice, he has to admit, but not his main focus.

“It's all good and gravy,'' he said, “but like Coach Pelini said, it's early in the season.''

Suh isn't sure how to strike a Heisman pose. Shoot, the guy doesn't even know how to celebrate, or so his fellow Huskers say.

“That's something my teammates give me a hard time about,'' Suh said. “The only time I really did celebrate was after the Colorado touchdown (in 2008) when I threw the ball into the fence, which was obviously a penalty and something I won't do again.''

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

« Sports - Big Red Today

Share