After seeing Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh stomp on one of his teammates, Packers running back Ryan Grant isn’t happy that Suh will be back on the field in two weeks.
“Do I think it needs to be longer? Yeah, I do,” Grant said on WSSP in Milwaukee, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “I think it’s absurd. It was about as overboard as you can get what he did; it’s just not football. Can’t have that. It was ridiculous, and it’s not something you want to see regardless. I’m not a fan of the apology, I’m not a fan of what he said. Anybody in hindsight can say all that, but we’re talking about something that’s not exactly a first occurrence. There have been issues, there have been talks and communication with the commissioner and across the board.”
Suh will likely point out at today’s appeal hearing, however, that after the communication with the commissioner that Grant references, Roger Goodell praised Suh, writing on Twitter, “he has clearly made the adjustments to play consistently w/in the rules.” Suh could also point out that his ejection and two-game suspension is a much stiffer punishment than other players received for dirty plays: Grant’s teammate Charles Woodson was neither ejected nor suspended for punching Saints tight end David Thomas. Vikings defensive end Brian Robison was neither ejected nor suspended for kicking Packers guard T.J. Lang in the groin.
So while Grant is saying the punishment was too lenient, Suh is arguing that the punishment was too severe. The opinion that really matters is that of Art Shell, who’s hearing Suh’s appeal.