Ndamukong Suh never should’ve been penalized for what happened last Sunday vs. the Packers, but he was — he was suspended for a playoff game — and thus, he was forced to appeal that decision. Suh’s appeal was heard on Tuesday and the decision was made by Ted Cottrell to overturn Suh’s suspension and simply fine him instead.
The gist of it is below:
Suh wins his appeal. Has been reduced to $70K fine. No suspension. Can play this weekend. Huge for the Lions.
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 30, 2014
How was Suh considered a first time offender? Will explain in next few tweets. The repeat offender policy was modified in 2014 in terms of..
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 30, 2014
…what a player had to do to have a clean slate. After a first violation of a safety-related rule, a player must go 32 straight games …
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 30, 2014
…without another such violation to have a clean slate. Includes reg. season, postseason and 2 preseason games. Suh's last such violation..
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 30, 2014
…was in Week 1 of 2013, when he was fined for a low block. So he went the rest of last season, 2 preseason games, and 15 reg. season games
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 30, 2014
…That's 32 straight. So by letter of the law, he had a clean slate. Merton Hanks thought stepping on Rodgers was bad enough that even as a
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 30, 2014
…first offense should be suspension. Appeals officer Ted Cottrell saw it differently.
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 30, 2014
Again, Merton Hanks suspended Suh even though it was considered a 1st offense b/c he thought stomp bad enough to merit suspension.
— Judy Battista (@judybattista) December 30, 2014
I’m uncomfortable with Judy calling it a stomp. It was a step (backwards). Either way, justice was served to an extent on Tuesday and Suh will rightfully be allowed to play the Lions’ second biggest game in 15 years.
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