Did the Packers untying Ndamukong Suh’s shoes set him off?
Was Ndamukong Suh's Thanksgiving outburst caused by a juvenile prank ordered by a Green Bay Packers coach? According to former Packers offensive lineman Matt Brock, that's exactly what happened.
Brock was being interviewed on KXTG in Portland, Ore., when he floated the theory that his former teammate, current offensive line coach James Campen, may have told Evan Dietrich-Smith to untie Ndamukong Suh's shoes during the game as a way of getting under the skin of the volatile Detroit Lions star.
This is the sort of tale that's best served straight from the horse's mouth, so here's a transcript of Brock's interview, courtesy MLive.com:
The center, or one of his guards, he's had like one or two starts in his career and he's got to play against Suh. So he's pretty puckered, right? So, he talking to James, the offensive line coach, going, "What do I do? What do I do?"
James is just in his mind going, "This guy is going to get killed. I got to take his mind off it, give him something else to do." So he says, "Ok, every time you're in a pile, I want you to focus on something. I want you to untie his shoes."
He goes, "What?"
"Anytime you can, just reach in, he's got floppy shoe laces, he doesn't spat or anything, just untie his shoes. It will irritate him."
He untied his shoes three times in the game. That's why he stomped him. That's why he banged his head on the ground and he stomped him. When (Suh) went to the sideline it looked like he was telling the coach, "I didn't do anything" and he put his foot up like, "I didn't stomp him. I didn't do anything." He was actually going, "The damn guy keeps untying my shoes."
That's a heck of a tale and it's just plausible enough to be true. Suh is so temperamental that you can see him getting aggravated by some scrub messing with his shoes. It's something that's easily checked, I suppose. All you'd have to do is go back and look at the game tape to see if Suh was bending over in between plays to tie his shoes.
Even if it's not true, I'd imagine Oakland Raiders coaches will be whispering to their offensive linemen about how to antagonize Suh during this Sunday's game. Sure, they could suggest they untie his shoes in a pile, but where's the originality in that? Come up with a new way to annoy him. Try tickling his feet or blowing gently in his ear or singing that Mariah Carey Christmas song at full volume all game. Dude will snap in no time.