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As a junior defensive end at Arizona State University in 2002, Terrell Suggs had the type of season that many college football players only dream about. En route to compiling an astounding 24 sacks, while utilizing a dizzying arsenal of instinct, burst, strength, size and speed, he elevated himself into an elite pro prospect.

Selected with the 10^th overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft, Suggs has seamlessly fit in to a Ravens defense that – with the otherworldly talents of linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed – will be praised in the annals of pro football for decades to come. Upon donning the purple and black, at the mere age of 20, Suggs nabbed the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award after collecting 12 sacks and 1 interception.

Suggs has continued to be a menace to opposing offenses throughout his brief, yet stellar, career. He shows quarterbacks and running backs the same love that the L.A.P.D. once extended to Rodney King.

While in Hawaii, prepping for his third Pro Bowl appearance, the personable and affable (off the field, that is) Suggs sat down to let us under the veneer, taking us under the helmet for a closer look at the man known as T-Sizzle.

You were born in Minneapolis. Where did you grow up?

South Side of Chicago. I moved to Arizona when I was 16. Growing up in Chicago, it was survival of the fittest. Either you can roll or you get rolled over. I had two parents that refused to lose their children to the streets. I have two brothers and two sisters. So my parents weren’t having it, and they picked up and moved us to Phoenix.

Was football always your game?

Nah. I was actually a basketball player, but I didn’t have a mean jump shot and I wasn’t 6-foot-6. But I’m still a basketball player. When I moved to Phoenix, it seemed like the right thing to do was to move to football.

Tell me about your father?

He’s from East Saint Louis.

Enough said!

(laughs) Pops is no joke. He met my mother in Minnesota.

So playing high school football in Arizona, is that when you realized you could go far with the sport?

Exactly. It was like, ‘Yo, it’s either this or the streets.’ And I began talking to myself, like ‘I need to make the most of this opportunity’. I started taking my schooling seriously, as well as football. My high school coach really believed in me and it was more than just football for him. His name is John Wrenn and I’m still in debt to him to this day for what he did.

He said, ‘I’m gonna give you the ball, you’re gonna be the player of the year and you’re gonna graduate with a 3.0 GPA or higher.’ And I did. He went beyond the call of duty. He made sure I had all the right classes to get into college, he took me to Saturday school and he did a really good job as a coach.

I heard you were a beast of a running back in high school. 6-foot-4, 235 pounds with 4.5 speed. I can’t imagine that there were many high school defenders that looked forward to playing against you.

When I got the ball, to me, it felt like a race to the end zone. I felt like I could score every time I touched it.

Who did you look at in the pros and admire from a distance?

Jevon Kearse. When I got to college, he was at the peak of his game, the best pass rusher in the NFL. Growing up, I looked at Lawrence Taylor, John Randle and Chris Doleman.

Your senior year in high school, you played exclusively on offense. Did the colleges that were recruiting you hint that you could be a monster on defense?

Oklahoma recruited me as a running back but everyone else wanted me to come in as a defensive end. Coming out of high school, I really didn’t want to get hit by college linebackers. I wanted to move to defense, where I could get to hit people instead of being hit.

In college you were a force of nature. It seemed like you had trained exclusively to be this incredible pass rusher. But you were basically looking at the game from an entirely different vantage point than you’d been used to.

Right. But football is football, especially when you’re that young. So, you know how to tackle, pretty much and the switch wasn’t that hard. They showed me a lot of film of Eric Flowers, the guy who played my position before me, and that’s why my transition was so easy.

But you became one of the elite players in the entire country quickly. You were handling dudes. When did you realize that you weren’t just playing, but that you were having your way out there?

That didn’t happen until my junior year, when people were telling me that I might be able to go pro and be a high draft pick.  When I first got there, I didn’t want to be a bust. So it was like, ‘I gotta ball and play from the moment I step on the field.’

You were incredibly young, only 20-years-old when you started your NFL career. Most 20-year-olds can’t handle everything else that comes with that. How did you?

I always had great people around me. I think my parents did a great job of raising me and my brothers and sisters. The people around me were positive and when you have the right people around you, good things will happen.

Who mentored you early on?

Adalius Thomas, Bart Scott and Ray Lewis. They told me how to take care of myself, where and where not to go, make smart decisions and keep the right people around you.

 When was that moment when you got to the Ravens, pinched yourself and said ‘I can’t believe I’m here’?

From the moment I sat down in a meeting room with Ray Lewis. I was like, ‘Oh My God! Ray Lewis is my teammate!’ He’s one of the greatest players ever to play football.

You play this very violent game. What do you think about when you hear the horror stories of veterans who have dementia and can’t walk by the time they’re 40-years-old, former players suffering from some severe repercussions as a result of their playing days?

I think it’s terrible. The NFL is not doing their part to try and get those guys proper medical benefits. We’re all naturally competitive and don’t have that knack of knowing when to walk away from the game that we love so much. When I’m done with the game, or the game’s done with me, I’ll gladly walk away. I want to be able to chase my children around.

Talking about walking away, what are some of the things you’re starting to map out for when the lights go off and the crowds aren’t cheering anymore?

I’m interested in film. I’m actually trying to do that know while I’m playing and still have some buzz. I want to make some movies, tell some great stories and give somebody that big shot that they’re looking for.

This story is filed under: Leave Me Alone, I'm Watching the Game!, Sports

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