Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh fourth most hated sports star in America - NFL News
It just takes one event, on the field or off it, to change a player’s reputation from highly popular hero to a hated villain as Detroit Lions’ defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh found out.
According to Forbes magazine, which conducted a poll of sports fans to find out which star is the most hated in America, Suh was the fourth most hated player among fans.
That statistic is not surprising with Suh’s actions on the field and his overly physical style of play, irking fans and analysts with growing calls this season to label Suh a dirty player.
The survey shows that 51% of the people polled in the survey dislike Suh taking him to fourth spot in the list.
Suh, however, was never this unpopular.
Joining the Detroit Lions in the 2009-10 season, the defensive tackle was brilliant for Detroit and a highly popular figure among fans with an approval rating of 71% but that popularity would not last long.
This year Suh became increasingly aggressive on the field and his demeanour off the field also did not help to endear him to the fans.
Things changed for the worse when the 25-year-old was ejected from the field during the Lions Thanksgiving Day loss to the Green Bay Packers after Suh stomped on Packers Guard Evan Dietrich-Smith in the third period of the match.
Suh further aggravated the damage when after the game he refused to acknowledge that he stomped on the Packers guard by posting on his official Facebook page that he was just trying to regain balance.
The statement infuriated almost everyone and led Detroit Lions to suspend the player from the training facility till the end of his suspension and later led the burly defensive tackle to apologise.
That apology though seems not to have made his position any better as he still remains in the bad books of the fans.
"He went from being so popular to being a pariah in one season," Nielsen vice president of sports Stephen Master said, according to Forbes.
The Forbes list has three National Football League (NFL) players in the top four.
Michael Vick, quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles, takes the first spot with 60% of fans disliking him since being imprisoned for his role in a dog fighting ring which puts him just above Tiger Woods.
On third spot is New York Jets’ wide receiver Plaxico Burress who served jail time for illegal gun possession.
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