Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Ndamukong Suh's legacy with Detroit is as complex as Suh himself

There were the tears.

Of all the images of Ndamukong Suh -- the stomps, steps and groin kicks; the sacks, “SUUUHHHH” chants and wrecking of opposing offensive lines -- one that stands out is from one of Suh’s final moments as a member of the Detroit Lions.

Standing at a lectern in the bowels of AT&T Stadium on Jan. 4, Suh had to step away to compose himself before continuing a postgame media session. A man who always played on an emotional edge during games, yet rarely showed his emotions off the field, struggled to keep it together.

The Lions had just lost a playoff game they truly believed they could win. Suh didn’t want to discuss his future then, yet it felt like a goodbye. Turns out it was. Suh will be in Miami next season, leaving Detroit after five seasons of being the Lions’ cornerstone on defense.

As talented as Suh is on the field -- and it is still stunning the Lions mismanaged so much of the negotiations leading up to free agency that they let him reach the point he could leave -- he was equally confusing in his intentions and meaning.

Suh polarized the Lions’ fan base, and really, the entire NFL. Everyone had an opinion on Suh, a dominating presence on the field and an enigmatic one off it. He would say he didn’t want attention, including that he would be "sitting in some quiet backwoods" when he retired. Then he showed up in not one, not two, but three reality television programs.

He’s a savvy businessman and aligned himself with giants of industry, including the world’s second-richest person, Warren Buffett, whom he considers a friend and mentor. Suh, whom teammates often described as a businessman above everything else, shouldn’t be faulted for taking the best deal he could in leaving Detroit, since this is the payday setting him up for the next 60 years of his life. And he always made it clear he was going to search out the best offer he could, wherever that would be.

He did work for charity and with kids, but you rarely heard about it or saw it because it was often done outside of the public eye. What you did hear about were incidents such as being accused of threatening a cable repairman (he was cleared), a car crash and speeding tickets -- all adding to Suh’s persona as a player who hit quarterbacks late and racked up almost a half-million dollars in fines and forfeited game checks due to suspensions.

It’s tough to even say Suh was misunderstood, because there was never a clear understanding of whom he was trying to be -- and he seemed OK with that. The one area that was clear was on the field, where he never missed a game due to injury in five seasons, and he was always in extremely good shape and helped teammates have career years because of the attention he received from opponents.

But he’s also someone who often gave mixed messages about so many other things.

Even his feelings about Detroit were tough to understand. He never came out and said he wanted to be in Detroit or stay with the Lions -- part of that had to do with negotiations and business -- but he was spotted around town in the offseason more often than many of his teammates. When he was asked about it, he explained he chose to go to Detroit in the 2010 draft -- a convoluted statement, considering that teams draft players, not the other way around.

But that’s always the way it was with Suh: dominant on the field and hard to decipher off of it.

And those two things, wrapped up in his final day on the field for the Detroit Lions, are what he’ll be remembered for the most.

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