At this point, we can't stop questioning what the deal is with Detroit Lions defensive lineman Ndmuakong Suh.
We thought it might be a bum rap as his reputation grew for being a dirty player. In only his second season, he's already third on Sports Illustrated's annual bad-boy list, now called the "NFL's Meanest Players."
When Suh initiated a meeting last month to discuss his fines and personal-foul penalties with league officials, including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, we thought it was a shrewd, pre-emptive move that might cut him some slack and reduce his offenses. "I have gained a better understanding of how I need to continue to play the game to help my team win," Suh said in a statement after the meeting.
But then he turned into a big turkey on Thanksgiving, stomping on an opponent in Detroit's loss. The blatant, unsportsmanlike conduct outraged Suh's critics and earned him a two-game suspension from the league.
Now his behavior is in question again after he crashed his car last weekend in his Portland, Ore., hometown. Suh called 911 after the crash and said, "Yes, everyone is fine" when the dispatcher asked. He also filed a police report that indicated the same.
But two passengers in the car have contradicted his story.
KGW-TV interviewed the two passengers, including a woman who had a cut upper eyebrow that required stitches, a black eye and a busted lip. In an amended police report, she said she told Suh repeatedly that she was hurt and needed a doctor, but he refused and said she was fine.
The amended report says that one person was seriously injured and four people were in the car, not three, as Suh initially claimed. The injured woman said that she contacted police after watching a TV report about the crash and becoming upset that Suh had lied.
Portland police said that they don't plan to pursue the matter because it doesn't meet the threshold for an investigation. Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz explained it away on his weekly radio show, saying that Suh is under "too much of a microscope." He added: "We just worry about him on the field."
Suh's poor decision making on the field is bad enough for the Lions and their opponents. But it's a much bigger problem when it spills out on public streets.
Then it's everybody's concern, causing us to wonder more and more: What's the deal with this guy?