Lions' Ndamukong Suh going on reality TV dating show
May 9, 2012

From left, Tika Sumpter, Ndamukong Suh and Jordin Sparks hang out at a Lions game Oct. 23, 2011, at Ford Field in Detroit. Sumpter and Sparks are members of the cast of "Sparkle," which was filming in Detroit. / Special to the DFP

He's a menacing defensive lineman, part-time pitchman and soon-to-be reality TV star, too.

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has signed on to join the upcoming Fox celebrity dating show "The Choice," according to Entertainment Weekly.

In the reality show, which debuts June 7, everyday contestants are given a chance to win a date with their famous counterparts. The contestants are paired down over three rounds until each celebrity - four appear each episode - blindly chooses a date for the evening.

Along with Suh, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is reportedly part of a cast that features mostly B-list celebrities like Pauly D and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino from "Jersey Shore," and Rob Kardashian from a handful of shows about his sisters.

Suh, who saw his sack total drop from 10 to four last year, has been a marketing phenomenon and the most visible Lion during his first two NFL seasons. He took part in the Gumball 3000 road race across Europe last year, appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" this year and has a number of national endorsement deals.

Contact Dave Birkett: 313-222-8831 or dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @freeplions.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120509/S ... ating-game

Suh spent the entire offseason last year in self-promotion mode and his production declined. It's tough to know if the off-season activities were to blame but one can't rule it out either. Now, after a "down" season, he's going right back into self-promoting. Doing a commercial or two is one thing--a TV series is quite another. Maybe he'll still get in his workouts and bounce back, but after his on-field and off-field meltdowns last year, I question his maturity and his ability to juggle everything successfully. I hope he'll surprise me but right now, I'm concerned.

Though everybody provides some pretty good opinions on this whole thing, i myself have a hard time believing Schwartz would let him get his mind too far off of football.

I agree though, kinda makes you scratch your head.

Suh spent the entire offseason last year in self-promotion mode and his production declined. It's tough to know if the off-season activities were to blame but one can't rule it out either. Now, after a "down" season, he's going right back into self-promoting. Doing a commercial or two is one thing--a TV series is quite another. Maybe he'll still get in his workouts and bounce back, but after his on-field and off-field meltdowns last year, I question his maturity and his ability to juggle everything successfully. I hope he'll surprise me but right now, I'm concerned.

While I'm not a fan of anybody doing these ridiculous anything but reality shows, I think it was the Wide 9 that contributed to Suh's drop in production. As much as it helped Avril it hurt Suh.

While I'm not a fan of anybody doing these ridiculous anything but reality shows, I think it was the Wide 9 that contributed to Suh's drop in production. As much as it helped Avril it hurt Suh.

Who said that? The Wide 9 was being used in his rookie year as well. I think what caused his drop in production numbers was the focus he gained based on his rookie year. He got double teamed far more often, because teams were throwing the ball against us more in an effort to come from behind. In a passing situation, they'll double up Suh and leave Corey or whoever one on one.

Avril and KVB definitely benefit from Suh being there, not the opposite way around. And those two also benefit from the Wide 9 because of the angle it gives them, and it allows them to focus on one thing...get to the football.

True. Also, teams were starting to get away with quite a bit with Suh due to the refs turning a blind eye to some things on him. Not making excuses, but it's the honest truth. He was getting mugged against Green Bay and New Orleans. It was even being pointed out by the announcers, and there were zero calls against the offensive linemen. He was getting held, thrown to the ground, kicked, punch in the groin, etc. No calls.

But, I agree that teams also started to game plan for the aggressive nature of the entire D-line, not just Suh. Due to his quickness, they ran more traps inside and he would take himself right out of the running lane at times.

I agree with this to an extent. I also think OC's came up with a counter to his speed/power/agressiveness. They game planed allowing for his penetration and using it against the Lions and taking Suh out of the play. As a rookie, this quick penetration cause the offense a lot of problems, last year it created some opportunities in terms of the run game and short screens over the middle. This became more of an issue as the season progressed. He had 2 sacks in the first 3 games and 2 the rest of the season. His tackle numbers also decreased as he would get 3, 4 or 5 tackles per game early in the season and just 1 or two the last 5 or 6 games.