What Number is Ndamukong Suh?

A legendary college football career gave way to a strong professional career when Ndamukong Suh made his way into the NFL. A multi-talented athlete, Suh was a four-sport star at the high school level, succeeding at the state level in basketball, football, and shot put. Eventually, he chose football as his career and made his way over to Nebraska after interviews with various programs.

After missing a majority of his freshman year, Suh took over the backup defensive lineman role and was a solid contributor to the Nebraska team. In his junior year, his career started taking off as he led the team in tackles while earning First-team All-Big 12 honors.

It was his senior year, however, when he became one of the most decorated college football athletes ever. A 12 tackle, 4.5 sacks performance in the Big-12 Championship game earned him MVP honors. The key ingredient to a first-ranked defense, he was pivotal for recording the first shutout in school bowl history in the 2009 Holiday Bowl. For his cumulative performance, Ndamukong won the College Football Player of the Year, the Bronko Nagurski Award, the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Lombardi Award, and the Outland Trophy, and was recognized as a unanimous All-American. He also finished the year as a finalist for the Lott Trophy, Walter Camp Award, and Heisman Trophy.

Considered one of the best defensive prospects ever and with an elite vertical leap at the NFL Combine, Suh improved his odds and was selected second overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2010 NFL Draft. His NFL career can clearly be divided into two parts. The first, was where he accumulated a ton of individual success during his 5-year tenure with the Detroit Lions and 3-year tenure with the Miami Dolphins. The next was the years as a team contributor in his short stints with the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and most recently, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Ndamukong Suh’s Jersey Number

So far a free agent, Suh isn’t donning a jersey number currently. While he’s at the end of his prime, Suh could add veteran experience along with a defensive presence to any of the teams looking for a strong defensive back to add as a rental.

Over his career, Ndamukong has worn 3 different jersey numbers. In his college days at Nebraska, the defensive ace wore the number 93. However, coming into the league, he made a slight shift to 90 for the Detroit Lions. Over his 5 years in Motor City, Suh would become one of the most feared defensive presence in football. Aggressive and lacking sportsmanship, Suh was out to hunt every time he set foot on the turf. Compiling an NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and 4 Pro Bowl and All-Pro appearances in his time with the Lions, Ndamukong earned every penny of his $114 million contract with the Miami Dolphins, a sum that would make him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.

A shift in scenery to Miami also brought a return of his college number 93, which he wore for the next 7 years of his career. In his time with Miami, Suh made a second-team All-Pro and another Pro Bowl while further establishing his take-no-prisoners reputation. After accumulating a record number of fines, Ndamukong would make his way to the Rams. In his next 5 seasons, Suh would make 3 Super Bowl appearances, winning the iteration with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The first, with the Rams, would end in heartbreak before he moved to the Buccaneers for 3 seasons. His tenure with the Buccaneers would include their victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. However, Suh would meet KC again, this time in 2022 as part of the Philadelphia Eagles, sporting the #74 jersey.